Occurred Wednesday, December 19, 2012, 23:55 5000 Staples Street, Graffiti arrest, 1212200004

                A 16-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday night for an estimated $12,000 worth of damage to buildings in the area of the 5000 block of Staples Street.

Corpus Christi Police Patrol Officers were called to the area of the 5000 block of Staples at 11:55pm to investigate a suspicious person complaint. One patrol officer saw the man described by the caller near the intersection of Staples and South Padre Island Drive. The officer exited his patrol car to meet the person; but, the man ran from the officer. The officer chased the man around the Sunrise Mall and into a neighborhood across McArdle Road.

The man ran to the 1100 block of Lum Avenue when officers caught the man. The man fought with police officers and was exposed to pepper spray until the officer could apply handcuffs. The man was discovered to be 16 years old.

The officer discovered graffiti implements with the 16-year-old boy. Other police officers searched the area and found fresh graffiti on a fence on the 1600 block of Airline, on a vacant restaurant at Williams and Staples, on a business and a trailer of the business on the 5700 block of S.P.I.D., and on an overpass. The estimated value of the damage is $12,000.

The 16-year-old boy was delivered to the Nueces County Juvenile Detention Center for Graffiti (state jail felony), Evading Arrest (Class A misdemeanor), Possession of Graffiti Implements (Class C misdemeanor), Resisting Arrest (Class A misdemeanor), and for violation of the night curfew (Class C misdemeanor).

Police remind everyone that there is a Corpus Christi city ordinance (CC33-40) that prohibits any person less than 17 years of age from a public place between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., or on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. unless with supervision by a guardian.