Teen Charged With Vandalism For Imperial Beach Graffiti, No Hate Crime Charges

CHULA VISTA, CA — An 18-year-old man accused of defacing an Imperial Beach residence pleaded not guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor vandalism count, but was not facing hate crime charges despite sheriff's officials stating his involvement with drawing "hate-related graffiti" on multiple South Bay homes.

Kristoffer Wilheim Von Hassel was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of tagging the residences with "hate symbols and anti-Semitic graffiti."

The San Diego County Sheriff's Office first received reports on Sept. 13 of a home on Elm Avenue and another on Seacoast Drive that were defaced with "markings consistent with a black permanent marker." Six days later, the Elm Avenue home was marked with "additional hate-related graffiti," sheriff's officials said.

Von Hassel, whom sheriff's officials said matched the suspect description, was arrested around 3 a.m. Tuesday "in a dark alley, where one of the vandalisms had occurred," the sheriff's office stated. At the time of his arrest, he also "was found in possession of a hand-held electronic device capable of interacting with and analyzing certain wireless signals, including those used by some garage doors, gates and other access systems," according to sheriff's Lt. Chris Galve.

Prosecutors have only charged Von Hassel in connection with the Sept. 19 incident.

Deputy District Attorney Mei Owen said during a Thursday arraignment that surveillance footage helped identify Von Hassel as the suspect. The prosecutor said the word "queer" was found scrawled in permanent marker on the victims' home.

A public defender representing Von Hassel at the hearing said no graffiti tools were found on his person when he was arrested.

Von Hassel was initially booked into county jail on a dozen felony and misdemeanor counts and was previously held on $123,000 bail.

Now facing only the lone misdemeanor count, a judge agreed to release him on his own recognizance, but ruled he must abide by conditions that include no possession of tagging paraphernalia and a stay-away order from the home in question.

Von Hassel previously drew news headlines dubbing him the "world's youngest hacker" for accessing his father's Xbox One account at the age of 5. A BBC article from 2014 detailing the incident said the young Von Hassel discovered how to exploit a security flaw that allowed him to access his father's account without entering the correct password in the log-in screen.

Microsoft later addressed the flaw, but in thanks for revealing the issue, gifted Von Hassel with four free games, $50 and a one-year subscription to the Xbox Live service, the BBC reported.

— City News Service