PARADISE, Calif. — A “city guy” from the Bay Area was arrested in Paradise over the weekend after surveillance footage caught him spray-painting onto multiple businesses in town, police say.
According to the Paradise Police Department (PPD), officers first responded to the Grocery Outlet off Skyway on Saturday, Dec. 23, for a report of graffiti that was spray painted on the building sometime during the night. Officers reviewed the store’s surveillance footage and say it showed a man in a red Ford Mustang, dressed in a black face mask and black hoodie sweatshirt, being responsible for the graffiti.
While reviewing the footage, the PPD noted that a distinct circular-shaped graphic was painted onto the suspect’s hoodie. Police say officers searched the surrounding area and found additional businesses that were graffitied with the same circular symbol during the same night.
A few hours later, the PPD says officers stopped a red Mustang for speeding on Elliot Road. They say the driver, later identified as 39-year-old Brian Orison of San Francisco, matched the surveillance footage and was wearing the same hoodie.
Orison reportedly refused to leave his vehicle when directed and needed to be removed from his vehicle before being detained. While officers removed Orison from the Mustang, they say he dropped his cellphone, which revealed a hand-drawn circular symbol that matched the ones painted on the businesses on Skyway.
After searching Orison’s vehicle, police say officers found numerous cans of spray paint and a black facemask. Additionally, the PPD says the color of paint was determined to be the same color used on the businesses.
While speaking with Orison, officers say he claimed he was a “city guy” and didn’t this it was a big deal. Ultimately, Orison has been booked into the Butte County Jail for resisting arrest, vandalism and driving with a suspected drivers license.
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