Miami Standard (Ventura, CA) – A 30-year-old man from Ventura, John Williams, was arrested Sunday on charges of vandalism and committing a hate crime after he allegedly spray-painted swastikas across multiple locations in the city, authorities confirmed.

According to the Ventura Police Department, Williams was identified as the suspect after five separate instances of vandalism were reported throughout Ventura. The first report came in at around 9 a.m. on Sunday when a business on the 1000 block of East Front Street notified authorities that a swastika had been spray-painted on a wall of its property. Investigators were able to identify Williams through surveillance footage.

Over the next several hours, additional reports surfaced, detailing more swastikas painted on both public and private property.

Those locations were:

• Harbor Boulevard / Sanjon Road
• 100 Block W. Main St.
• 100 Block W. Garden St.
• Santa Clara St. / S. Ventura Avenue

At approximately 11:44 a.m., officers spotted Williams riding an electric scooter near Main and Ash Streets. After stopping him, they discovered evidence of the vandalism in his possession, leading to his arrest on suspicion of felony vandalism, misdemeanor vandalism, a hate crime, and parole violation.

During the investigation, officers uncovered Williams’ social media accounts. On these accounts, he had posted photos of the swastikas he painted, and it appeared he had staged the photos to falsely implicate others in the acts, authorities said, likely to spread fear.

No additional details regarding the case have been released at this time, and authorities are continuing their investigation.

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