Police on Tuesday released surveillance video of a person of interest in the overnight vandalism of several Atlanta streetcars and announced a $2,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.
Sometime between 11:30 p.m. Monday and 2:50 a.m. Tuesday, three streetcars were spray-painted with large graffiti while parked for the night in a gated lot at the streetcar maintenance barn under the Downtown Connector, Atlanta police said.
According to a police incident report, the vandal or vandals entered the locked storage area near Auburn and Edgewood avenues and painted graffiti on the left side of cars 1001, 1002 and 1003.
“There were no signs of any forced entry into the storage area and it appeared that the perpetrator(s) climbed over a fence to gain access,” the report states.
Police were reviewing the surveillance video to determine how the vandal was able to spray-paint the cars without being detected by a security guard that was on duty. The damage was discovered by a supervisor who reported to work at 3 a.m.
There was no structural damage to the streetcars, said Melissa Mulinax, the senior advisor to Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.
City officials said two of the system’s four cars were operating on the route Tuesday.
Atlanta police spokeswoman Elizabeth Espy asked anyone who recognizes the person in the video or the graffiti tags to call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS. Tipsters can text CSA and the tip to 274637 or submit the information online at crimestoppersatlanta.org.
The streetcars began running on a 2.7-mile route between Centennial Olympic Park and the Martin Luther King Jr. historic district last December.
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