Feds ID suspect charged in national park spray-paint case by phone number included for co-worker
A California man accused of spray-painting vulgar messages on prehistoric Indian rock carvings at Sequoia National Forest allegedly told an investigator he was “very drunk” at the time.
In fact, Christopher Harp, 58, said he was so drunk that he didn’t even realize the rock carvings were there as he used a spray can of black asphalt sealer to write an explicit message inviting phone calls and a work phone number for a co-worker on the petroglyph, said U.S. Forest Service investigator Brian Adams in an affidavit filed in the criminal case. Harp was allegedly angry at the co-worker at the time.
Unfortunately for Harp, he also works at the same company, which cooperated. Investigators called the co-worker’s phone number and used it to identify Harp as a suspect, Courthouse News reports.
The case is being pursued in federal court in Fresno. If convicted of depredation of public lands, Harp, who pleaded not guilty on Friday, could get as much as 10 years in prison and be fined a maximum of $250,000.
The article says his lawyer, Janet Bateman, did not respond right away to a Courthouse News request for comment.
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