3 arrested on vandalism charges

GLENDALE — Three men were arrested Saturday after they allegedly were spotted preparing to paint graffiti on a Colorado Street business and fled from police, officials said.

The men — Jesse Delgado, 19, of Los Angeles, Michael Rodriguez, 19, of Whittier and Bardo Albarra, 28, of Los Angeles — likely belong to a tagging crew in northeast Los Angeles, Glendale police Gang Det. Jeffrey Davis said.

“It looks like they were just passing through the area,” he said.

The men are scheduled to be arraigned in Los Angeles Superior Court today on vandalism charges.

When an officer spotted the trio about 1:30 a.m. facing a building on the 600 block of West Colorado Street, they allegedly threw away the paint cans and fled into the business neighborhood, according to Glendale police reports.

The officer was able to stop Rodriguez, but Delgado and Albarra continued running from police.

Officers eventually caught up to Delgado who was hiding in an outdoor Home Depot display. A police helicopter used infrared equipment to find Albarra, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

Rodriguez later told police that he was heading to a friend’s home in Burbank, but detoured to Glendale to tag, according to an incident report.

Police also found graffiti on the pedestrian tunnel entrance to the Golden State (5) Freeway, according to police reports.

Officers also reported finding four individual packages of marijuana, a digital scale, small empty plastic bags, about $261 in cash and cans of paint inside Delgado’s Nissan Maxima.

Davis said graffiti has decreased overall in Glendale and that Saturday’s incident was isolated.

Still, tracking those who do vandalize the city can be challenging.

“The frustrating part is that they change their name very frequently,” he said.