A viral vigilante video resulted in a misdemeanor charge for vandalism on Lookout Mountain

(Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

staff photo

An unidentified videographer confronted a couple of guys on Lookout Mountain on Saturday, capturing one of them holding a can of spray paint near graffiti on a rock that said “STAN.” It’s awkwardly riveting stuff, and it may have worked.

“You guys know you’re defacing property, right? Don’t worry, I’m just going to get a video of you doing it,” he says.

The videographer keeps following the young men as they walk away from the graffiti. (The graffiti is objectively dumb. Besides “STAN”, the hasty paint job declared that something or someone “is gay.”)

“I’m just going to get a frontal of your face, real quick,” the videographer adds.

“… I’m sure someone will see this video and mark you guys.”

He may have been right.

The anonymous videographer grabbed an image of the two driving away. Two days later, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office hit 18-year-old Stanley Stettler (could this be the mysterious “STAN”???) with a misdemeanor count of defacing property, according to ABC7.

It’s unclear how the authorities identified the suspect, but they did use the video, ABC7 reported.

But wait, let’s get an alternate take from the YouTube comments.

Says All Sports Highlights: “while it is wrong to graffiti this mountain, this guy video taping was a little (expletive) and a snitch.”

Adds Lawrence Robinson: “… it’s a rock lol …”

And, of course, there were lots of people cheering on the taper.

As always, be cautious of provoking random people who appear to be committing a crime.

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