The Metropolitan Police Department on August 22 made an arrest in the hateful graffiti case that for several weeks plagued the artistic Chinatown Crossing in DowntownDC at the intersection of 7th and H Street.
First District patrol officers arrested 60-year-old Generoso Anthony Capodilupo, of “no fixed address,” and charged him with multiple counts of defacing public or private property.
Officers responded to three separate incidents of anti-semitic graffiti on Chinese zodiac rat silhouettes in the crosswalk art on August 1, 8, and 9. Additionally, on Sunday, August 21, swastikas were drawn on the windows and tables of a coffee shop in the area. On August 22, the suspect went to a different coffee shop, and again drew swastikas on the business’ window.
Throughout the weeks-long ordeal, the DowntownDC Business Improvement District’s (BID) ambassadors worked to remove the graffiti as it appeared and loop in the Metropolitan Police Department to build their case and gather evidence on the repeated defacement.
“The very first time that it came, we got down here immediately and cleaned it up,” BID Director of Public Space Operations Kristi Whitfield told WJLA ABC-7 reporter Cheryl Conner.
[Click here to watch a video of the complete interview with WJLA.]
News of the arrest was covered by many media outlets including The Washington Post. “The DowntownDC BID remains hopeful that these hateful incidents will desist,” BID Executive Director Neil O. Albert said in a statement to the Post. “Downtown should be a safe and welcoming place for everyone and actions such as these will not be tolerated.”
[Click here for additional coverage by NBC4, The Washington Times, and DCist.]