Graffiti reporter attacked

Plenty of people complain about vandalism, but Steve Stafford does something about it. Almost every day he walks his dogs through Worthy Park and around the grounds of Huntington Beach High School. Stafford reports whatever graffiti he sees to Huntington Beach police’s graffiti hotline, or in smaller cases, to school or park employees.

Recently, however, graffiti did something about him.

Two weeks ago, Stafford told police, he was walking his cattle dog Princess through the park when he spotted some young men — gang members, he thinks — tagging the outside of a racquetball court. As he usually does, he said, he kept a safe distance and called police, hoping to catch them in the act. But one of them noticed.

“He took his canister and threw it on the roof,� Stafford recalled. “He said ‘No way, no way!’ and just started punching me.�

The man knocked Stafford to the ground and kept hitting him, he said. It was only when other people at the park came closer that the assailant and his companions ran off. Stafford said he wasn’t seriously injured, but his chronically sore knee has been worse since.

The case is under investigation as a battery, Huntington Beach police Lt. Craig Junginger said. But he said details of the assailants were sketchy and finding them would not be easy.

Despite the experience, Stafford says he’s determined to keep up with his walks and report all the vandalism he sees.

“It’s working, believe me,� he said. “From last summer to this summer I’ve seen a dramatic drop over there. It picks up and slows down, but over around the high school it has dropped off.�

A recent evening walk with Stafford seemed to fit that story. He could point out little graffiti in the park — just a tiny mark on a pole he says is left over from when he was attacked. As he and Princess ambled over to the school, he gestured at some marks on walls and tables that he blamed on student pranks.

To him, however, it’s just the usual suspects. One scribble he blamed on a young neighbor of his, while several others he chalked up to “skaters.�

“Even when I’m driving, I’m looking at that graffiti,� he said. “I’m seeing if it’s the same people that I have problems with by the high school.�

Stafford said he has not received any money from the city’s new reward program for reporting such acts. But he is optimistic, saying that a recent change to the policy allowing the city to give rewards to anyone whose tip leads to an arrest and not just a conviction might increase his odds.

“It would be kind of nice,� he said. “I haven’t seen it yet. But they definitely made it easier to reward me by doing that ordinance.�

Despite the optimism, Stafford said he is more on edge since his run-in.

“I’m still hurting,� he said. “I’m looking hard. I’m just hoping I see those kids before they see me.�