Man charged with spray painting Ald. Ray Lopez’s Brighton Park office
Antonio Torres | Chicago police
CHICAGO - A Brighton Park man has been charged with spray-painting Ald. Raymond Lopez’s 15th Ward office.
Antonio Torres was allegedly caught on surveillance video spray painting the office Dec. 11 in the 4200 block of South Archer Avenue, according to Chicago police.
Lopez said the man was wanted for tagging much of the Brighton Park neighborhood.
"He was responsible for graffitiing almost a dozen other businesses up and down Archer Avenue," Lopez said in an interview. "We ID’d him on cameras and from him bragging and boasting on social media about his destruction of private property. We will not tolerate this in our community."
Lopez’s offices and home were hit by vandals four times last year in what he said was retaliation for his actions against gangs in his Southwest Side ward. He said this recent instance of graffiti wasn’t gang-related.
In November, someone threw a brick through Lopez’s office when it was located in the 2700 block of West 47th Street.
His office was also vandalized twice in July, with bricks thrown through the front windows. That month, someone also threw a brick into Lopez’s Brighton Park home and set fire to a neighbor’s garage.
After those attacks, Lopez said he’d move his office to a new location.
Torres, 28, was arrested Thursday and charged with a felony count of criminal damage to government property and a misdemeanor count of criminal defacement of property.
Lopez thanked the police department and credited his office’s "teamwork" with police for leading to the arrest.
"This is important to me, not just about the graffiti to my office. We have to send the message that this kind of behavior is unacceptable," Lopez said.
Torres was expected in court Friday.