Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies have a suspect in custody who’s believed to be responsible for 160 pieces of tagging throughout the city.

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 Nicolas Palma, 19, of Newhall, is scheduled to appear in at Los Angeles Superior Court in San Fernando on Tuesday on vandalism and narcotics charges.

Palma was seen riding his bike by a deputy who was conducting regular patrols within city limits. When deputies contacted Palma, who was being sought by station detectives, he was found to be in possession of methamphetamine.

“We really appreciate all the tips and phone calls we received from the community that we serve,” said Deputy Josh Dubin of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. “We were fortunate to find the suspect shortly after we sent out a Nixle report requesting the public’s assistance in ending this vandalism spree.”

Sheriff’s Station detectives sought Palma in connection with the vandalism on Saturday.

Palma is thought to be the tagger “Kronz,” who’s spray-paint signature is on tens of thousands of dollars worth of vandalism throughout the Santa Clarita Valley.

The Sheriff’s Station’s Career Offenders, Burglary, Robbery Apprehension team is investigating Palma regarding numerous graffiti incidents.

On Monday morning, Santa Clarita Valley Station COBRA detectives served a search warrant at Palma’s residence.

Palma is alleged to have committed in excess of $40,000 worth of damage in graffiti vandalism. He is being held at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station on $10,000 bail.

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ORIGINAL STORY SATURDAY, MARCH 16
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station detectives with the Career Offenders, Burglary, Robbery Apprehension, or COBRA, team are seeking public assistance in identifying a person of interest thought to be responsible for approximately 160 incidents of graffiti vandalism.

The suspect’s name is not known, but he’s described as an Hispanic male, approximately 18 to 21 years-old, with an unknown type of tattoo on his neck, said Deputy Josh Dubin of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

 Each one of the incidents involved the word “KRONZ” being spray painted or written onto walls, buildings and other property resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in damages and cleanup efforts.

The majority of the incidents have been committed using spray paint and have occurred near Newhall Avenue in Newhall.

During the course of this investigation, detectives were able to obtain the attached photos of the suspected vandal.  

If you know the identity of the person shown in these photos, or his whereabouts, detectives are asking that you call LA Crime Stoppers by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org

To report graffiti within the city limits, please call 661-252-5326 or use the city’s eService request system on the Report Graffiti tab on the city’s website at santa-clarita.com.

No further information is available at this time, as this investigation is ongoing.

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