Three teens arrested for vandalizing Pride crosswalk with scooters

Three teenagers — two minors and a 19-year-old — were arrested in Spoken, Washington after security cameras revealed them defacing a Pride display painted on a street front at a public park. Now the company that provided the scooters used in the vandalism has implemented a high-tech solution to prevent further vandalism.

Recordings showed 19-year-old Ruslan Turko and two unidentified minors defacing the painted Progress Pride flag using Lime scooters to produce skid marks across the display.

Related: Town votes to ban Pride crosswalks. Its only rainbow crosswalk will be removed.

Vote followed petition for “neutrality” in public spaces.

A group of volunteers had just repainted the streetscape a second time after two previous acts of vandalism.

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Police were alerted to the vandals by eyewitnesses, who called 911 to report “multiple subjects on scooters were causing damage to the newly painted Pride mural.”

One member of the trio allegedly shouted an anti-gay slur as he defaced the painted flag.

On scene, “officers observed widespread damage as black scuff marks consistent with scooter wheels were observed across the entirety of the mural. The area is clearly marked to keep traffic away as it was just re-painted to repair previous damage.”

The three teens were arrested on charges of 1st Degree Malicious Mischief after being identified in city security camera recordings.

At his arraignment, prosecutors asked for a $15,000 bond for Turko, explaining that amount would be the cost of repainting the mural yet again.