Antonio Rodrigues [Mugshot from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office] 
Surveillance footage from Geiger’s Market of the vandal that graffitied their business [Picture used with the permission of Abbe Arkelian]
23-year-old Laytonville man Antonio Rodriguez has been booked in the Mendocino County Jail suspected of vandalizing multiple locations throughout the town.
In an odd twist, Rodriguez recently had posted on the Laytonville/Branscomb Community Awareness Facebook page observing “a lot of graffiti has been around town.” He specified that the graffiti was specifically “at the school mostly” surmising “younger kids” were responsible. In an aside, he stated, “I used to tag when I was 14-15.” The post has since been deleted.
One of the four locations described by a Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office press release was specifically Laytonville Unified School District. The other three victimized businesses include Geiger’s Market, Pour Girls Coffee, and Frontier Communications.
Abbe Arkelian, a co-owner of Geiger’s Long Valley Market in Laytonville, told us “I’m disappointed that someone from our community would do something like that. I really wanted this person to step forward and admit they did it and make it right.”
A series of photos of what are allegedly Rodriguez’s tags were sent to us by a Laytonville community member. It appears that these tags often came in two forms: “DMG” and “ACER”
Rodriguez’s Facebook post elicited multiple community perspectives regarding graffiti, with one commenter opining that if graffiti is “done well” it can beautify the community. Rodriguez responded that graffiti is “a beautiful form of art, but done with permission is the way to go.” Rodriguez went on to propose Laytonville’s skatepark could be a place in town where “anyone is allowed to paint.” He went on to say he knows the owner of the skatepark and said he would discuss the possibility with him so the kids would not get “into legal trouble.”
Roland Spence, the manager of the Laytonville Skate Park, told us that he does not “know” Rodriguez and he is not “associated with Laytonville Skate Park in anyway whatsoever.” Spence stated, “We do not and will not ever tolerate graffiti at the skate park.”
The MCSO press release indicated deputies to begin investigating the series of graffiti around Laytonville and information indicated Rodriguez could be the vandal. A search warrant was issued for Rodriguez’s home at the 100 block of Lucas Lane in Laytonville where he was not present, but investigators say they found evidence tying Rodriguez to the vandalism.
Deputies determined that Rodriguez had been staying in the Ukiah area during the initial search, and on May 26, 2021, received intel that he had returned to his Laytonville residence on Lucas Lane.
Deputies responded to the residence, arrested Rodriguez, and he is currently held in the Mendocino County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail.
