RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Richmond man owner is looking for answers after group of people were caught on camera vandalizing his business with graffiti.
Surveillance video from Mar. 28, shows two people painting graffiti on the back of a building on Robinson Street in Richmond’s Fan neighborhood. Just after 8:30 p.m., the two people meet up with a third person, the group then walks away.
Charlie Small has lived in the area for 10 years and owns the store where this occurred. According to Small, his property has stayed clean, until now.
“I pulled out of my garage and shut the door,” Small said. “There was this big tag on my garage door.”
He found at least three sections tagged: his garage door, his back door and the wall on the opposite side of the doors.
According to Richmond’s Department of Public Works, there has been a rise in graffiti across the city.
Representatives from the department told 8News that the downtown area and the Fan neighborhood are a magnet for graffiti. They said the majority of tags and defacement of traffic signs take place in the Fan.
“I feel like it’s kind of part of living in the fan,” Small said. “You kind of see this stuff, but I also see it as, now I’ve got a project I’ve got to clean up.”
Small is a member of the Fan Area Business Alliance and the Robinson Street Association. He told 8News that he knows these may be kids, but graffiti is an issue that comes up often within the groups.
“I love my community, but I don’t like to see it damaged. That’s kind of what they’re doing. They’re creating problems for other people. We’re trying to fix it up. We’re trying to make it a better place,” Small said. “The whole development over here with PBR and all that, it’s like it elevated the area. “For this to happen, it’s not respecting the community or the people.”
Small says he has filed a report with Richmond Police.
