Racial Slurs, Swastika Spray Painted On Strongsville Homes

STRONGSVILLE, OH — Police are searching for a man that spray painted racial slurs, swastikas, phallic symbols and other offensive language on several homes throughout the city. Officers have released security camera footage of one of the incidents and have asked the public for help in identifying the man.

Detective Doug Stroud of Strongsville Police told Patch that despite the painting of racial slurs, none of the victims are believed to be minorities. The incidents occurred late Friday night and early Saturday morning in four parts of the city.

"It appears the person may have been causing random damage," Stroud said. (To stay up to date on local stories, subscribe to the Patch Strongsville newsletter. As news breaks and the story develops, you will be the first to receive updates from Patch.)

Two garages on Old Oak Drive were tagged with racial slurs and phallic symbols. Three homes on Trenton Ave. were tagged. The first two had spray painting on their garages, with offensive language and what appears to be a racial slur. A third home on Trenton had a racial slur and a swastika spray painted on one of its walls. Then the suspect apparently tagged a wall on a Fawn Meadow Lane home with a large phallic symbol.

The suspect was wearing a Duramax hoodie and is believed to have used a vehicle to drive to different areas of the city. Stroud noted police have received a few tips on the identity of the spray painter and will be following up on those leads. Anyone with information on the incidents can contact Stroud at 440-580 3241.

Stroud added that while police have dealt with other vandalism incidents in recent months, it is not currently known if those are connected with last week's spray painting spree.

Video of the suspect is below.

This is at least the second incident of swastikas being spray painted on property in Northeast Ohio in recent months. Two swastikas were painted on the driveway of a Lakewood home in mid-August 2017. A third swastika was spray painted on Belle Avenue in Lakewood.

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Photo from Strongsville Police