BY JULIA HUNTER, NEW ERA STAFF WRITER

Graffiti paintings throughout the city have many local business owners convinced that Hopkinsville has a gang problem.

Today, Sara Dolezal, manager of the Holiday BP on Fort Campbell Boulevard, painted over the graffiti that defaced much of the convenience store and its dumpster. “MS-13” and an unknown Spanish phrase were painted on the building, Dolezal said.

“It’s funny, because you always hear people say that there are no gangs in Hopkinsville,” she said. “(The graffiti) pretty much tells you there is. I think it’s something we need to worry about.”

Police arrested a 17-year-old male around 3 a.m. Tuesday on the lot of First United Methodist Church, after he was seen running from police with a can of spray paint in his hand, according to a report from the Hopkinsville Police Department.

Authorities are still looking for others who could have assisted the suspect in allegedly painting the graffiti, according to Paul Ray, the department’s public information officer. Early Tuesday morning, more than 15 businesses and several other structures were tagged with graffiti that referenced the Hispanic gang, MS-13.

“Because it’s so early (in the investigation), we don’t want to rule anyone else out,” Ray said.

Billy Poteet, the general manager of Zaxby’s on Fort Campbell Boulevard, said after viewing a surveillance video from that morning, he believes there could be more than one person involved in the vandalism.

Although the camera only caught one person spray painting the building, as that person was walking away he did something that made Poteet believe there were others present that the camera may not have caught.

“(As the suspect walked away), he threw his arms up in celebration,” Poteet said. “In my opinion, he was gesturing to someone.”

Poteet said the graffiti, which he found when work began Tuesday morning, was painted over this morning. Although the cost was not much of an issue, he said, the inconvenience of having to clean it up was.

“They tag these buildings and act like it’s a sign of bravery or whatever, but it costs me $3,” Poteet said. “They act like it’s a right of manhood, but it’s just a childhood prank.”

Poteet said he would not be surprised if something like this incident was to happen again.

“It just goes to show that there’s definitely some gang activity in town,” he said. “It’s just like any other social problem. If it’s not looked into in the start, it just escalates and escalates.”

Calvin Givens, of Givens Group, LLC, knows all too well about the gang problem in Hopkinsville, he said.

Tuesday morning was not the first time Givens, who owns and maintains many buildings in the area, has dealt with gang-related graffiti defacing his property.

“We’ve had some other incidents on other properties,” he said. “They’ve tagged them with their spray paint. Gangs seem to be a growing problem in our area.”

Givens is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of all the buildings he owns and leases in the area. Tuesday morning, he painted over graffiti on his building at 1222 Skyline Dr., which houses Orthopedics Physical Therapy, Express Check Advance and People’s Security Finance, and a portable storage building that he owns located off of Skyline Drive. He also assisted his parents, who own Skyline Enterprises, in painting over graffiti at Holiday Inn on Fort Campbell Boulevard.

“Obviously, (the graffiti) was gang related,” Givens said. “A lot of young people these days don’t have any respect for other people’s property. They don’t realize how much work goes into keeping something looking nice.”

Graffiti was also painted on Set Free Ministries on South Virginia Street, Southern States on 14th Street, a garage at 1406 S. Campbell St., Walnut Street Center, Wal-Mart on Fort Campbell Boulevard, Shoney’s on Fort Campbell Boulevard, Kmart on Fort Campbell Boulevard, Bradford Square Mall and Shopping Center, Rex TV and Appliance on the mall property, a white Ford pickup truck that was in the parking lot of Knight Electric Motor Service, BellSouth on East 13th Street and a stop sign at Skyline Drive and Industrial Drive.

Officials have estimated the damages will cost more than $7,500.

The suspect was held at the Hopkinsville Police Department, until he appeared in juvenile court at 1 p.m. Tuesday. He was then taken to the McCracken County Juvenile Detention Facility in Paducah, where he remains.

JULIA HUNTER can be reached at 887-3262 or by e-mail at jhunter@kentuckynewera.com.