Vandalism on front glass door of the Old Townhouse Restaurant.
Two of the three young men who were videotaped in the process of vandalizing Newport Avenue business storefront windows last January 25th have pleaded “guilty” to felony vandalism. (Here is one of our initial reports on the vandalism along Newport.)
Jonathan Ford Gurr – a Pacific Beach resident – and James Alfred Dorman IV, arrested in early March, each pleaded “guilty” to one count of felony vandalism, so reports writer Neal Putnam of San Diego Community News Group. Both men will remain in custody until their sentencing April 28th.
Gurr and Dorman had been originally charged with 26 counts related to vandalism at Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach businesses, and including others in the Sports Arena and Morena areas. Early reports of the damages estimated that more than thirty Ocean Beach businesses had been hit, and over 90 windows or glass doors etched. With their plea to the one felony count, San Diego Superior Court Judge Eugenia Eyherabide dismissed the other counts.
Putnam reported that – in terms of sentencing – the District Attorney’s office will seek custody for up to one year – this would be jail not prison – for each guy, that they be placed on felony probation and required to pay restitution – namely to compensate all the businesses for the damages. Supposedly, the two have agreed to do this.
However, Putnam’s article did not refer to or give any information about the third suspect. During their graffiti spree in late January, the images of three men were captured by store security cameras. This greatly aided in identifying them and the arrest of the two. When the OB Ragspoke to Officer Bill Miles of the Graffiti Strike Force back on March 9th, he told us that “suspect number 3” was under surveillance.
Putnam reported:
Gurr’s bail is set at $100,000, while Dorman is being held without bail. Dorman has a drunken-driving misdemeanor case pending in Chula Vista Superior Court, according to court records.
One side issue in this case is that when the original crime bulletin went out publicly on the three suspects, all three were originally described as “Hispanic”. Neither Gurr and Dorman, both 20 years old, are not Latino.
Nor are they homeless, it should be noted.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
aha! they may not have been homeless or latino, but there is a Pacific Beach connection. Just sayin…
Give them 6 months in county jail then make them either pay for the damages or personally polish out their mess in a year. If not paid or rectified in full….. back to the pokey for another 6 months. I’d like to see them on the streets polishing out the graffiti they left on my windows as well as all the other windows here on Newport. What they did isn’t’ just vandalism to the business district but an affront to the entire neighborhood. If, by any slim chance, anyone sees them working here on Newport it might behoove you to tell them how you feel about what they did. I will.
They have no stake in the society they vandalize. If they had one I am sure this would look different to them than just fun. How can this be done from jail?
We don’t know whether they have no stake in society because they haven’t had the opportunity to establish one, or because they’ve chosen to reject whatever opportunities they’ve had. The article stated they’re not homeless, and at least one of them had a car that he used to get picked up in on an underage 502…sorry, lots of sympathy for lots of folks, but not these punks.
I like Gary Glmore’s idea of polishing out the damage, nothing like a little public humiliation to make them think twice about there actions. after a lot of hard work they may find that a polish job wont work, then they must pay to replace the glass.
All these guys need are two more felony graffitti convictions and they too can get the “Bitch”. 25 to life A good ass whipping might be in order but felonies. Give me a break..