Lakeville's Heritage Drive Bridge Covered With Graffiti

Lakeville generally isn’t home to a lot of graffiti or vandalism.

That’s why people are surprised when they see the orange and green graffiti currently covering the Heritage Drive bridge near the Dakota County .

“It’s unnerving,” said Marcus Wright, 39, who was walking his dog over the bridge on Thursday. “I mean, it’s probably kids who are bored or whatnot, but it’s still unnerving.”

Lakeville Police Department Capt. Jon Arvidson said vandals likely sprayed painted the graffiti on the bridge early on June 22.

“This is a little more bold than just the bridge in that they did some spray painting on businesses, too,” Arvidson said. He said Lake Marion Collision and Green Planet Car Wash also had graffiti.

Lakeville City Administrator Steve Mielke said it’ll cost a couple hundred dollars of staff time and materials to clean up the mess—something the city intends to do quickly.

“We don’t want it to become a norm,” he said.

The city's public works department will handle the clean up, he said.

Among the symbols and words painted on the bridge is the word “Crips,” which is the name of a well-known gang, but Arvidson said it’s not likely to actually be associated with the group.

“There are a lot of people out there that pretend they’re a part of gangs. (They) know the name ‘Crips’ and write things to get a response,” Arvidson said. “When we see it, a flag foes up, but it doesn’t mean there’s a gang problem in Lakeville. This was one night of pretty bold and brazen activity, likely by a couple juveniles.”

Mielke agreed.

“I’ve never been told about a gang problem in Lakeville,” Mielke said. “I mean, we really don’t have a graffiti problem, much less a gang problem. This was probably ”

Regardless, Arvidson said photos of the graffiti were taken and sent to the Dakota County Gang Task Force to be reviewed.

Arvidson said investigators are working to find those responsible.

Reports have been taken and the investigation will likely include checking with hardware stores to see if sales of paint were made before the incident, and review of security camera footage from local businesses, Arvidson said.

“But a lot of times, it’s the rumor mill that will help,” he said. “We’ll talk to juveniles to see if anyone knows or has bragged about the graffiti.”

In the mean time, Arvidson said Lakeville Police would start being proactive to prevent more vandalism.

“This is a little more bold in that they did some businesses and the bridge,” he said. “So we’ll start putting people out on bike patrols and unmarked cars.”

Arvidson said vandalism in Lakeville is generally limited to the city’s parks where people will carve graffiti into picnic tables or scratch graffiti into bathroom stalls.

“This is definitely a bit more bold than normal,”

The bridge that was vandalized was built in 2000 when the Heritage Commons shopping area was developed. The bridge spans one of South Creek’s northern tributaries.