A video of a man spray painting boulders on Lookout Mountain over the weekend led the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to a suspect who faces a misdemeanor charge of defacing property.
Investigators found Stanley Stettler, 18, of Thornton, after tracking a BMW temporary license plate captured by the man who used a cellphone to take the video, said Jenny Fulton, sheriff’s office spokeswoman.
A witness posted the video on YouTube, and the sheriff’s office subsequently posted it and provided the number of a tip line for people to use if they could identify the vandal.
“You guys know you are defacing property, right?” a man is heard saying while filming the graffiti suspect and another man.
The narrator of the video explains that he and his fiancée were hiking when they heard spray painting.
The man with Stettler, who didn’t graffiti anything, wasn’t cited, Fulton said.
The second-degree misdemeanor charge carries a penalty of up to one year in prison, and/or up to a $1,000 fine. Stettler is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 20.
