An 81-year-old Azusa man was charged on Tuesday, May 28, with vandalism for allegedly breaking windows and damaging a car in his neighborhood with a slingshot, authorities said.
Police suspect the man of vandalism spanning about 10 years and estimated damages at $5,000 to $10,000, according to Cpl. Benjamin Cypher.
It is unclear why Prince Raymond King used a slingshot near his home to cause damage, police said, adding that a ball-bearing nearly struck a woman.
King was charged only for crimes since Oct. 10. 2021.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed five felony counts of vandalism and two misdemeanor counts of vandalism against King. A felony vandalism means damages were $400 or more. If convicted as charged, King faces a possible sentence of seven years and eight months, said Venusse Dunn, a spokeswoman for the DA’s Office.
King pleaded not guilty to the charges at his Tuesday arraignment in West Covina Superior Court. He returns to court June 17.
Cpl. Cypher belongs to the Police Department’s Directed Enforcement Unit, which investigated the case and is tasked with handling issues deemed a priority which include traffic and quality of life.
The team deduced where the ball bearings were coming from and showed up in the 900 block of North Enid Avenue in Azusa on Thursday. King lives on nearby Crescent Drive.
Police had a search warrant and had the home under surveillance when he came out and fired a slingshot, Cypher said.
Then the search warrant was served. King was arrested on Thursday, Cypher said, with officers finding the slingshot and 10 to 40 ball bearings.
James Mead is one of the seven victims in the criminal case. King was charged with allegedly damaging his garage door window. Mead lives on 10th street ,which is above Crescent Drive where King has a home. He doesn’t know King.
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His garage door window was damaged about three months ago, Mead said.
There were also instances of ball bearings being fired when his wife was in their backyard, Mead said. There was no sound of a gun, he said.
But he pointed out that King’s backyard was not near. To him, there could be more than one person doing it.
“We’ve been here since 2018. (It’s been) ongoing all that time,” he said, adding some times it was more active than other times.
He’s had four windows broken at four separate times, according to Mead. The windows were in a bedroom, bathroom and garage, he said.
There was damage to a window when he bought the property in 2018.
“To me, it seems to be a really good neighborhood except for windows being broken,” he said.
Fabiola Madrigal Rodriguez is another victim in the criminal case.
When they moved to Enid Avenue about eight months ago, she said their garage window had three to four BB holes. When police investigated the affected houses, she was told the holes there were bigger.
She doesn’t know King.
“We just say ‘Hi ‘and ‘Bye.’ He would do his thing,” she said. “We waved. I don’t think we got a wave back.”
She has never seen King talk to neighbors. She thinks he talked to a gardener about his car which she described as a very well-maintained blue classic car.
