VIDEO CATCHES TEENAGE VANDAL IN MIDDLE OF ACT DEPUTY TRACKS DOWN SUSPECT IN BUS TAGGING.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - A teen caught on video vandalizing a Santa Clarita bus on its maiden voyage was arrested Tuesday by a sheriff's deputy new to the job of monitoring crime on the city's transit system.

The 16-year-old boy, on probation in another tagging case, was arrested at Bowman High School by Deputy Bob Schneider, sheriff's officials said. He was booked on suspicion of felony vandalism and released.

The youth at first denied he had been on the bus Aug. 15, the first day of the new school year and the first day the bus was in service, Schneider said. But he soon admitted to the vandalism - using a rock to engrave his moniker - after Schneider told him he was clearly caught in the act on the surveillance camera aboard the brand-new $400,000 natural gas-fueled bus.

``I asked him, Do you ride the bus?'' Schneider said. ``He says 'no.' I said, How do you get to school? He says 'My uncle picks me up every day.' Then I showed him the pictures of him outside the bus, him entering the bus and him vandalizing the bus. He said, 'Ok, I'll be honest with you. I did it.'''

Damage was estimated at $1,000, and officials will seek restitution, said Lt. Mike Parker of the sheriff's Metro Transit Services Bureau.

Schneider, a member of the bureau and specially trained to battle crime on public transit, began working last week in Santa Clarita. The city is paying $170,000 for his position, said Bob Murphy, the city's transportation manager.

Bus 167, one of the city's new natural gas-fueled vehicles, went out for the first time Aug. 15. That evening maintenance crews found the interior scratched with graffiti.

What followed was some pretty impressive police work, Santa Clarita sheriff's Capt. Patti Minutello said.

``The deputy did a great job of tracking him,'' Minutello said.

Schneider photographed the damage then asked a city staffer to review the videotape, guessing the incident occurred between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., when students ride the buses. She found the segment of tape, which included when it happened - 12:10 p.m. - and Schneider then tracked down where the bus was at the time.

``It was stopped at Golden Oak (Road) and Soledad (Canyon Road) - lo and behold, Bowman's a block away,'' Minutello said. Schneider visited the campus, talked with the principal and found the youth who matched the photographs printed from the videotape.

The city has been hit by a surge of graffiti vandalism in recent months and is aggressively trying to stop it, Minutello said.

``It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is,'' she said.

Patricia Farrell Aidem, [phone]

pat.aidem(at)dailynews.com