Cathleen Langan (inset) was arrested in the area of Queens Lane and Bayshore Highway (Images Facebook and Google Maps)
SAN JOSE – Early Monday morning, at 4:14 am on November 2, a 34-year-old woman, Cathleen Langan was arrested by San Jose police in the area of Queens Lane and Old Bayshore Highway. She was charged with vandalism to a property in the largely industrial business area. Bail for the San Jose resident was set at $1,000.
The next day, at 10:58 am, a San Jose area transient, Leopoldo Martinez, 33, was caught at a home on Capitol Court, near Ryan Elementary School, and charged with vandalism, along with disorderly conduct, being under the influence of a controlled substance, and resisting arrest. His bail was set at $11,250. Within the hour, police captured another vandalism suspect, Joshua Arreola, 19, also of San Jose. He was also charged with resisting arrest and possession of marijuana for sale. He was arrested on Daniel Maloney Drive, which runs by both Silver Creek High School and John J. Montgomery Elementary School. Bail for Arreola was set at $12,000.
They were just three of the hundreds of people arrested each year on various charges of vandalism and property defacement in the San Jose area.
On Saturday, September 5, San Jose Police noticed an individual standing at the side of a building who had taken two cinder blocks and had begun defacing the side of the building. 29-year-old Jin Jun Suwa was arrested for felony vandalism with damages of over $5,000.
A ten thousand dollar bail warrant was issued during a hearing at the San Jose Hall of Justice on September 9. However, a review of the case was assigned to Judge Shelyna V. Brown on October 19 for sentencing.
According to court records, when arresting officers asked Suwa if he understood his Miranda rights, he refused to acknowledge the arrest and refused to cooperate with the arresting officers.
A report GRAFFITI ABATEMENT: IMPLEMENTING A COORDINATED APPROACH submitted by the City of San Jose in August of 2013 states, “The Anti-Graffiti Program will have spent $1.6 million in graffiti removal.” According to their figures, January 2013 saw a increase of more than 250,000 square footage of tags removed from city streets.
Permanent damage is seen where Suwa defaced the building on N. 2nd Street (Photo Amy Nilson)
However, in some cases the cost of restoration may be too high to do anything about. As in the case with Suwa, the defacement has left an almost permanent reminder of the damage done to the building, located on North 2nd Street in downtown San Jose.
Suwa, who lives in nearby Campbell, was no stranger to San Jose area law enforcement. In fact, since his September vandalism arrest, he as been charged three times with public intoxication, being under the influence of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was also arrested five other times in 2014 and 2015, on charges of public intoxication, drug possession, and probation violations. He was charged in November of 2014 with grand theft, and in May 2014 for soliciting lewd acts.
Earlier records show an arrest in October 2009, when he was 22, for grand theft, petty theft, possession of marijuana, and disorderly conduct – public intoxication. Along with several more intoxication arrests in the following three years, he was also charged with vandalism and assault in February 2012.
CrimeVoice Staff contributed to this report
