By Patrick Baron

BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington police arrested three juveniles for a series of crimes early Sunday morning.

The three juveniles were arrested after being connected to a series of criminal damage, vehicle burglary, and arson reports in the area around McGraw Park. Police said the youths had written racially-charged slurs and symbols in the area around McGraw Park, such as a Nazi swastika and written support of the Ku Klux Klan.

Bloomington Patrol Officer Elias Mendiola explained graffiti usually has some hints as to who may have defaced the property.

“Some of the graffiti that’s common might be from an individual that’s just a juvenile, by the spelling or what they’re stating on the graffiti, some might be related to our hybrid gangs, so you might get a name of a group of names that’s familiar to the police, and some are just artists,” Mendiola said.

Mendiola also said people should always notify the police in the event that their property has been damaged by graffiti.

“We have a program where [residents] can alert our non-emergency number dispatch and we’ll send an officer out,” said Mendiola. “The officer will typically make a report, document the incident, and then the city will do a follow-up with the resident.”

The juveniles were arrested around 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Mendiola said graffiti usually isn’t a huge issue in Bloomington.

Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].