‘It's getting out of control': College Area neighborhood targeted by tagger

A College Area neighborhood is cleaning up after an overnight tagger damaged several properties.

Victims near San Diego State University say it happened between last Saturday and Sunday while everyone was asleep.

On Sunday morning, people living in the La Dorna Street neighborhood woke up to tags on their vehicles, streets and fences in orange paint. Some more ridiculous, like the word “honk” on the back of a black pickup, and some far more threatening like a racial slur strung across Ashley Papa’s fence.

“What is anybody gaining by doing something like that? We’re in 2025. Why are those words even being used?” Papa said.

Papa was working overnight Saturday. Neighbor Hollie Junell brought it to her attention.

“People don’t actually realize what’s going on in our neighborhood,” Junell said.

At least 10 nearby locations were tagged. It was reported on the city’s “Get It Done” app, and some were cleaned up. Others took care of it themselves.

“Who is doing this? I have no idea. I really hope it’s not the college students,” Papa said.

Papa and Junell live on opposite sides of an alley, which is in the center of the tagging.      

It may not look it, but the narrow alleyway that is barely paved is a major thoroughfare between La Dorna Street and Catoctin Drive. Neighbors say there are always cars coming and going through there and speeding. There’s also a lot of people walking through, people who don’t want to be on the main roads or be detected.

The day before, someone broke into a car Papa’s son drives. They broke the handle and left parts on the ground.

“It’s just disgusting behavior,” Papa said. “It ends up costing people a ridiculous amount of money to repair the damage that’s caused.”

The day after the tagging, Junell says she scared away someone trying to climb her neighbor’s fence and get into the back yard.

“Now, I have three cameras on my house because there have been numerous things that have happened,” Junell said.

Neighbors can’t say whether any or all of this is connected, but it leaves them feeling more vulnerable than ever.

“It makes me more cautious when I leave, or leave for work. To let my neighbors know to make everybody aware,” Junell said.

“It’s just excessive. It’s getting out of control,” Papa said.

While the tagging was the hot topic on the Nextdoor neighborhood app and got a response from the city’s Get It Done app, San Diego police say they have not yet received a formal complaint.