Police said a resident’s home, fence and vehicles were repeatedly damaged over several weeks in University Place.
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — A man has been charged with two counts of first-degree malicious mischief after prosecutors said a University Place home, fence and two vehicles were repeatedly damaged with spray paint and slashed tires.
Pierce County prosecutors charged Paul Elliott Watt in connection with damage reported between April 24 and May 9, according to court documents.
The charges say the damage involved a fence, a house, a Lexus and a Chevrolet Suburban, with each count alleging more than $5,000 in damage.
According to court documents, the resident first reported major damage May 3 after finding spray paint on her garage door, the side of her house and her vehicle. Police said all four tires on the vehicle had also been slashed.
Investigators said a previous incident involved red spray paint on 30 to 40 feet of the resident’s back fence.
A school camera across the street captured a small, dark-colored hatchback stopping near the fence during that earlier incident, according to court documents.
Police said the same resident called again May 9 after more spray paint was found on the outside of the home and a Chevrolet SUV parked in the driveway.
Court documents say the SUV was spray-painted on all four sides and all four tires were slashed.
Surveillance video from the driveway showed a person in a hoodie walking around the vehicle and spray-painting it, according to court documents.
The resident later told police she posted about the damage on Facebook and received messages from two people who suspected Watt, according to court documents.
The resident told police she knew Watt because he had been friends with her son and had lived with her for several months around 2007.
Investigators also wrote that police records showed Watt had been arrested or listed as a suspect in several similar vandalism reports in Pierce County in recent years.
Those reports included allegations of spray-painted vehicles, damaged homes, slashed tires and damage involving people Watt knew, according to court documents.
Police later contacted Watt’s mother, who told investigators Watt had access to spray paint at her home, according to court documents.
She later brought Watt to the University Place Police Department and told officers he had admitted to spray-painting a fence, a house and two cars belonging to the resident.
Watt declined to speak with police and said he wanted a lawyer. He was then arrested on suspicion of two counts of first-degree malicious mischief.
Investigators said repair estimates had already reached about $7,500 for the Lexus and $5,200 for the Chevrolet SUV. The resident also reported $1,300 in fence repairs, $230 in towing costs and about $6,000 in house repairs, with the final cost still unknown if the siding and garage door need to be replaced.
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