The San Diego Police Department is investigating a graffiti vandalism case in University City over the weekend as a hate crime.
Police say someone tagged two garage doors in a neighborhood with similar hateful messages, and residents say it’s not the first time it’s happened there. In fact, one of the victims say it’s been happening to her for four years.
“I don’t know what else to do, honestly. I don’t know what else to do,” neighbor Cheryl Snook said.
All she could do Monday was paint over the hate, but the fresh coat can’t erase what has already been done.
“It eats at me. It hurts me,” Snook said.
Snook said she is too afraid to show her face in her own community. She says someone has been tagging the neighborhood with horrible messages threatening to rape or kill her. Snook showed me 18 different messages from the last four years.
She recognized the styling of two of the letters painted on her home this weekend and compared them with photos of old taggings. She’s sure they were written by the same person.
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“I live in a nightmare,” she said.
Snook says a few weeks ago, someone claiming to be her typed an incredibly racist letter and posted it all over the neighborhood in an attempt to frame her as a racist.
Furthermore, Snook says someone put spikes under her tires and even cut her cable twice. She thinks its retribution for her role as the HOA president.
Snook decided to write her own letter denouncing the imposter’s message and hand-delivered it to all 270 of her neighbors. She called police and she called her San Diego City Council representative, but so far she said she’s gotten nowhere.
And she fears for her life.
“I am in shock,” she said.
And then this weekend’s racist messages. Snook points out the letters h and g. She says whoever spray painted the messages also spray painted these.
An SDPD lieutenant says investigators are aware of the possible matching writing.
Though it’s been her home for 30 years, “Some days I just want to get in my car and just keep driving and never look back,” Snook said.
Despite all the graffiti, Snook says her neighborhood is diverse and gets along very well.
No other information was available.
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