Jonathan Hale and more than a dozen other activists were in the middle of painting a third crosswalk at a Westwood intersection on Sunday when two police cars pulled up.
Los Angeles Police Department officers told the group to stop painting and handcuffed Hale, video posted on social media shows.
“Leave him alone. He's not doing anything wrong,” says a woman out of frame.
“You're vandalizing city property without a permit, so [I’ll] Ask everyone nicely. You can record all you want, but make a backup or I'll take everyone to jail,” says the officer handcuffing Hale.
Hale was cited for misdemeanor vandalizing property. He has a court date for January 5.
The arrest marks the latest showdown between the city of Los Angeles and civil traffic safety advocates who are frustrated by delays in painting street intersections and are taking it upon themselves to do work they say can't wait. Tension arises as the city struggles to reduce pedestrian deaths.
The mayor's office said in a statement Monday that it offered to collaborate with Hale, noting that it is “willing to work with any Angelenos who want to make our streets safer” and that it hopes to “develop solutions to accelerate the installation of crosswalks that meet legal and accessibility requirements.”
“Despite communication regarding municipal, state and federal laws and parameters, Jonathan has decided to continue with his own course of action,” the mayor's office said. “Mayor Bass is determined to ensure the safety and accessibility of streets and sidewalks for Angelenos, no matter how they ride, bike, walk or commute.”
Hale said he met with representatives from the mayor's office and the Department of Transportation in September, but there was little follow-up. However, since the meeting he said he makes a point of alerting the mayor's office when he plans an action, which he sees as a way to “protest for safer streets and a more effective government.”
Hale's group, called People's Vision Zero, is a reference to the city's 10-year-old “Vision Zero” plan to eliminate traffic-related deaths by 2025. But a recent report found flaws in the program.
Hale said he wrote to the mayor's office on Dec. 1, before Sunday's action in Westwood, explaining that a pedestrian had been killed several years earlier at an intersection a block away. He posted flyers around the block and talked to neighbors to let them know.
Hale said he requested marked crosswalks on Midvale Avenue in early October, but no improvements had been made. There were too many potholes at that intersection for his group to paint a crosswalk, so he chose the nearby intersection of Wilkins and Kelton avenues for Sunday's action.
When the police reopened the road at noon, allowing cars to pass, some of the still wet paint was washed away by the vehicles' tires. It was a big disappointment to Hale, who said he tried to explain to the officers that in another 20 minutes the paint would be dry.
“It was very frustrating. Our crosswalks are sharp. We pride ourselves on sharp, well-defined corners,” Hale said. “People share their experiences or near misses of being hit by a car while walking with their kids or their dogs. Those are the people we do this for.”
