San Diego

Suspect Arrested for Vandalizing War Memorial in National City

National City police have arrested a man who allegedly spray painted graffiti on a war memorial at National City's Kimball Park. 

Michael Alex Villalpando, 24, was arrested on a felony vandalism charged and booked into San Diego County Jail on Wednesday, according to police. 

National City police detectives and investigators with the gang enforcement team identified the suspect using previous vandalism cases and surveillance footage from the incident. 

Around 9:20 p.m. Friday, surveillance video appeared to show a group of males gathering on the east side of the the War Memorial at Kimball Park. After a while, the group dispersed, except for one man.

According to National City police, the video appeared to show the man spray painting the War Memorial.

The memorial honors National City veterans who fought and were killed fighting for the U.S. in World War II.

At this point, the amount of damage has not been determined.

This is not the first incident to occur at the War Memorial.

In 2014, three war memorial plaques commemorating U.S. military service members were stolen from Kimball Park.

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