OCEAN CITY — Two Montgomery County men, convicted last month on multiple counts of malicious destruction of property after a downtown Ocean City graffiti spree in April, were each sentenced on Wednesday to nearly six months in jail and were ordered to pay thousands of dollars in restitution to the many victims.
In the early morning hours on April 19, Ocean City police officers first discovered graffiti in the area of 17th Street and Philadelphia Avenue around 5 a.m. After a canvas of the area, OCPD officers located approximately 45 graffiti “taggings,” affecting multiple businesses and citizens. The spray paint spree ran from 16th Street to 20th Street and included restaurant walls, shopping center windows, motel windows and walls and multiple vehicles. With assistance from area businesses, OCPD officers were quickly able to determine that suspects from outside the area were responsible for the vandalism.
During the investigation, OCPD detectives worked closely with police in Montgomery County after areas in that jurisdiction experiences a similar rash in graffiti. The investigation was able to link two suspects, Raul Vasquez, 20, of Silver Spring, and Jose Zavala, 20, of Chevy Chase, to the graffiti sprees in both Ocean City and Montgomery County.
Based on the evidence, the Ocean City Police Criminal Investigation Division charged Vasquez and Zavala with 19 total counts of malicious destruction of property over $1,000 and malicious destruction of property scheme. In October, Vasquez was found guilty on all 19 counts, while Zavala was found guilty on 10 counts, and sentencing was deferred for both defendants.
Back in court on Wednesday, Vasquez and Zavala were each sentenced to three years in jail with all but five months and 29 days suspended for each. Each was placed on probation for four years after their release and each was ordered to pay $7,785 in restitution to the multiple victims.
