The Solano County Sheriff's Office is seeking this man, caught on a security camera spray-painting a swastika on the historic Thompson's Corner Saloon in Fairfield on Aug. 8.
The Solano County Sheriff's Office is seeking this man, caught on a security camera spray-painting a swastika on the historic Thompson's Corner Saloon in Fairfield on Aug. 8.

Solano County Sheriff asks for help identifying man who spray-painted swastikas on historic bar

After a man was caught on camera vandalizing a Fairfield business with swastikas and anti-Black slurs, the Solano County Sheriff’s Office has turned to the public to identify the suspect.

“This act of racism is horrifying and offends our entire community,” the sheriff’s office posted Aug. 9 in a statement on Facebook, and the office is working with the Fairfield Police Department and others “to solve this heinous crime.”

The incident was reported on the morning of Aug. 8 at Thompson’s Corner Saloon, a bar in Fairfield that dates back to 1902. Upon review of the bar’s security footage, a man was seen spray-painting in red what the sheriff’s office described as “swastikas and racial slurs.”

The sheriff’s office has released security camera images publicly in order to ask the public to help identify the culprit. The images show a man in a blue and black hooded jacket with green shorts, white socks and no shoes, holding a can of spray paint.

Sheriff’s office Sgt. Rex Hawkins told J. on Monday that members of the public have come forward, but that the information hasn’t yet “actually led to the culprit.”

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, bar owner Joey Della Zoppa said he was also looking through interior surveillance footage in order to see if the man had patronized the bar earlier.

The sheriff’s office said it is treating the incident as a “hate crime investigation.” A hate crime under California law requires an incident to be both criminal and motivated by bias against a certain group.

In May, graffiti was found in Fairfield that was mistakenly thought to be antisemitic but was actually related to the Norteño Street Gang, police said. The city of 120,000 is located about 50 miles northeast of San Francisco.