SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Sept. 2, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Officers with the Salt Lake City Police Department have arrested two men who are accused of causing significant, gang-related, damage to Jackson Park, in the Fairpark neighborhood of the city.
The investigation started at approximately 10:30 p.m. Friday, when a community member called 9-1-1 and reported seeing three people inside Jackson Park, at 781 W. 500 North, using blue spray paint to cause damage.
“Officers quietly arrived in the area and began watching the suspects from a short distance,” says a statement from Salt Lake City Police Public Relations.
“Officers coordinated a plan to quickly move into the park and arrest the suspects as they damaged the surfaces, including the park’s signs, walls, picnic tables, ground, slides, and even the trees inside the park.”
Officers arrested 18-year-old Elijah Carter and 19-year-old Macen Loutensock.
“When officers arrested the two, they found a blue spray paint can nearby and both men had blue paint on their hands,” the police PR statement says.
“Due to the significance and scope of the damage, officers enhanced the property damage charge to felony level. The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office will review the case.”
Loutensock was booked on suspicion of:
- Property damage/destruction with a value greater than $5,000, a first-degree felony
- Possession of controlled substance marijuana/spice, a class B misdemeanor
- Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor
Carter was booked on suspicion of:
- Property damage/destruction with a value greater than $5,000, a first-degree felony
- Criminal trespass — intend annoy/injury/crime/fear, a class B misdemeanor
- Intoxication, a class C misdemeanor
Each man was ordered held on $1,000 bail.
Possible charges are being screened for a juvenile female who was with Carter and Loutensock at the time of their arrest.
“The Salt Lake City Police Department would like to thank the Salt Lake City Parks Division for quickly responding” to paint over the damage, the statement says.
Police ask anyone in Salt Lake City who sees graffiti to call the graffiti hotline at 801-972-7885 or click here to report graffiti online.
