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Vallejo Man Arrested For Painting His Own Crosswalk

VALLEJO (CBS13) — A Vallejo man took his concerns about pedestrian safety into his own hands by painting his own crosswalk, much to the chagrin of Vallejo Police.

Fresh out on bail and back on his block, Anthony Cardenas received a hero's welcome of sorts.

Anthony lives on a busy, four-lane Vallejo street and he decided he was going to do something for the pedestrians.

In the name of safety, he grabbed some paint Thursday morning and hand-painted his own crosswalk.

"I tried helping my community out," he said. "I got tired of seeing people get run over here all the time."

However well intended, cops arrested Anthony for felony vandalism, and Caltrans had to chip the paint out of the street.

"Traffic division said there hadn't been any pedestrian-involved collisions in that area, so they're not sure what safety-related issues he was referring to," said Vallejo Police Lt. John Whitney.

It's worth pointing out that the intersection already has three crosswalks. And police say the legal crosswalk crossing the four lanes of traffic is just steps away from where he painted his.

But an agitated Anthony insists he made all the difference.

"I can't even walk there because, look, they don't even stop," he said.

Buoyed by the support of his neighbors, Anthony doesn't regret what he did, even though he faces charges and is on the hook for street repairs.

Police say it cost more than $1,000 to get rid of Anthony's crosswalk.

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