At least ten Mt. Shasta businesses vandalized, local man arrested

September 27, 2021 Trevor Montgomery

MT. SHASTA, Calif., — Authorities say a local man who was captured on surveillance video tagging several Mt. Shasta businesses was arrested during a vandalism investigation Friday morning, Sept. 24. Officers have identified at least ten victims of vandalism in the downtown area and have asked that any other victims not yet identified to contact their department.

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At around 7:30 a.m., a Mt. Shasta police officer was conducting routine patrol-related business checks when he observed fresh tagging and vandalism to the Ace Hardware building on E. Castle Street, according to a social media release from the department.

Eric Costa was arrested after surveillance footage helped officers identify him in a string of overnight vandalisms that occurred Friday. Mt. Shasta PD photos

The officer subsequently received a report of similar tagging at Berryvale Grocery, located a quarter-mile away on N. Mt. Shasta Boulevard and during the subsequent investigation officers located eight other downtown locations that had been vandalized with spray paint.

Officers began developing leads and gathering information, including obtaining surveillance footage from several business that helped them develop a timeline and identify the vandal as 29-year-old Albert Eric Costa.

At around 10:30 a.m., officers located Costa sitting in the grass at the Mt Shasta Chamber of Commerce and arrested him without incident. A subsequent search of his property uncovered five spray paint cans of various colors matching the paint used during the overnight vandalisms.

Costa was booked into the Siskiyou County Jail for felony vandalism charges; but online jail records indicate he has since been released from custody pending his arraignment.

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Officers have asked that any businesses or individuals who have recently suffered spray paint-related vandalism damage and has not been identified or interviewed to contact the department at (530) 926-7540. Callers can remain anonymous.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 50, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.