LOS ANGELES, CA – Four men, including a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power employee, have been charged with felony vandalism over a yearlong graffiti spree that left more than $170,000 in repair costs at buildings in and around downtown Los Angeles, prosecutors announced Thursday.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced the charges on Thursday, Oct. 15, saying the incidents ran from August 2025 to August 2026. According to the district attorney’s news release, repair costs totaled $172,930.
Javier Rezendez Rocha, 38, of Los Angeles, an LADWP electrical craft helper since 2018, is charged with 12 felony counts. Michael Ray Gonzales, 40, of Pico Rivera, faces seven counts. Francisco Rodriguez Aguilar, 37, of West Covina, and Richard Evan Ward II, 45, of Oceanside, face two counts each.
Prosecutors allege the men climbed or rappelled down mostly tall buildings, recorded the vandalism with drones and made money from merchandise sales. An arrest is not a conviction, and the allegations remain subject to the criminal court process.
Charges and potential sentences
Each defendant is charged with vandalism of $400 or more in defacement with graffiti. Rocha’s case is numbered 26CJCF06480, according to the release.
If convicted as charged, Rocha faces a maximum sentence of 10 years 4 months. Gonzales faces a maximum of 7 years, and Rodriguez Aguilar and Ward each face a maximum of 3 years 8 months.
The County of Los Angeles also published the release on its newsroom the same day.
City employee among those charged
The district attorney’s office said Rocha has worked for LADWP as an electrical craft helper since 2018. He is the defendant charged with the most counts.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said city-owned rappelling equipment was allegedly used during the incidents and displayed online.
At a Thursday news conference announcing the arrests, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said one aspect of the investigation was especially disappointing to him: that a city employee was among those arrested.
Locations tied to the spree
LAPD investigators linked the group to 12 locations. Eleven are in and around downtown Los Angeles and one is in the mid-Wilshire area.
Some addresses listed in the criminal complaint match those of historic downtown buildings, including the Cameo Theatre and the Roxie Theatre. One incident took place inside Pershing Square, and another happened outside downtown near Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.
The release describes the targets as mostly tall buildings across Los Angeles. Prosecutors say the defendants used climbing and rappelling gear to reach the sides of those structures.
Drones, merchandise and social media
According to the release, the defendants allegedly used drones to capture footage of the vandalism and generated profits through merchandise sales. McDonnell said the suspects used climbing equipment and rappelling gear, drones to record the vandalism and social media to promote it.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the motive was money and attention on social media rather than artistic expression. He said the defendants turned buildings into personal billboards and left property owners with more than $170,000 in repair costs.
Hochman also described the defendants as grown men who decided to profit over the desecration of buildings. He said vandals will be arrested, prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law.
LAPD investigation and prosecution
The Los Angeles Police Department investigated the case and posted an item about the arrests on its newsroom. The Central Trials Division of the district attorney’s office is prosecuting it.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Los Angeles Police Department.
Arraignments set for Oct. 19 and Oct. 23
Rodriguez Aguilar is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 19 in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Rocha’s arraignment is set for Oct. 23 in the same courtroom.
Ward pleaded not guilty Oct. 12, and a preliminary hearing in his case is scheduled for Nov. 19 in Department 38. Gonzales’ next court date was not listed in the release.
