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Man arrested for spray-painting racist graffiti on Prairie Village home

Posted at 9:29 PM, May 31, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-01 14:15:40-04

UPDATE 6/1/18 | Police say they have been able to return most of the stolen items, but are still tryingto locate the owners of other items:

EARLIER | PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. — A call from a vigilant homeowner led to the arrest of a man who allegedly spray-painted racist graffiti on a house in the Corinth Hills neighborhood in Prairie Village, Kansas.

The incident occurred in the area of 80th and Nall around 2:30 a.m. Thursday.

As many people were fast asleep, one woman wasn't. 

When a man lurked into her backyard with a flashlight it startled her at first, but she chose to confront him. 

"In my manly voice, I said, 'Can I help you with something?' trying to be as loud as I could, so the neighbors could hear me and this guy said 'No. I'm looking for my friend's house' and I said, 'Well what's the address and he said, 'Well it's on the corner, I don't know the address' and I said, 'Well does this look like a corner to you?! Just move on!" the homeowner, who did not want to be identified said.  

She called police, who told 41 Action News, the man went to a house where he spray-painted vulgar and racist remarks on the garage.  

"It's not charged as a hate crime at this point, we don't know why he painted those things on the garage," Capt. Byron Roberson with Prairie Village Police Department said.

Officers patrolling the area found the 23-year-old man nearby.

According to police, he was wearing latex gloves and carrying two bags.    

In them were items he allegedly stole from unlocked cars in the neighborhood and cans of spray paint. 

"The same color paint that was used on the garage door was also found on this person's possessions," Captain Roberson said.

Neighbors tell 41 Action News the racist graffiti was painted over shortly after sunrise.

Prairie Village police note cases like this don't happen often, but when they do they're quickly solved because of vigilant homeowners like this one who has a warning for those thinking of stirring-up trouble. 

"Stay out of Prairie Village, if you're going to do something like this, we look out for each other," Captain Roberson said.

The suspect is at the Johnson County jail waiting to be formally charged at which time he'll make his first court appearance.