Elk Grove Residents Wake Up To Graffiti On Cars

ELK GROVE (CBS13) — An Elk Grove neighborhood is targeted by vandals. A group of residents on one street woke up Wednesday morning to find their cars covered in graffiti with derogatory messages.

The images were obscene, and the words were profane.

Anthony McElrath's car was vandalized. His front driver door covered in spray paint. He said it was a rude awakening.

"It was kind of a shock, kind of irritating at the same time because it's your property and you don't want it damaged," said McElrath.

He took a quick glance down the street and noticed other cars, even a garage door, had been hit. His neighbor's truck had been tagged with images of male genitalia. Spray painted on another neighbor's garage door were the words, "I'm gay." Another's neighbor's license plate had been blacked out in spray paint, and an anti-police message covered the back door.

Angela Montez said, "It makes me feel mad."

Police reports were filed, and as victims spent the afternoon trying to scrape off the paint, officers showed up. Elk Grove police declined to comment until they had more information.

A neighboring surveillance camera captured a man on a bike vandalizing the vehicles just after midnight, but the image was too blurry to make out his face.

This isn't the first time cars in the neighborhood have been targeted. Just last weekend, a block away, one car was keyed and others broken into.

Rachel Deguara, whose boyfriend's car was vandalized said, "It's making me nervous that there's someone going around targeting our neighborhood."

Folks now say they plan to install cameras on their homes, and perhaps park in the garage. They're sad they don't feel safe leaving their property in front of their own property anymore.

"You know, you can't stop people from being stupid," said McElrath.

Elk Grove police did say this type of vandalism doesn't appear to be on the rise. They also say crime, in general, appears to be going down in the city. We're told violent crime dropped 5 percent from 2016 to 2017, while property crime fell 5.6 percent.