A 65-year-old man arrested in July for vandalizing trees in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park was arrested again last weekend for the same crime, police said today.
Ken Frisch, a San Francisco resident, was arrested at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday after officers responded to Martin Luther King Jr. and Chain of Lakes drives on a report of someone vandalizing trees.
Previously: More Details Emerge On Man Arrested For Golden Gate Park Tree Vandalism
Park rangers had been notified by a passerby that Frisch was breaking off branches of trees, and the rangers saw him continuing to break the branches, police said.
Frisch was arrested on July 10, also for damaging trees in the park. He was also cited that day for feeding squirrels and a raccoon and unauthorized performance of labor for apparently altering a park path, according to police.
San Francisco Recreation and Park spokesman Elton Pon said Frisch has allegedly harassed city gardeners for some time, but that the department does not consider him responsible for more serious vandalism that has damaged more than 200 trees in the park since last September.
The suspect or suspects in those cases target young trees in parts of the park marked for reforestation. Park officials estimate the damage from that vandalism has cost the city upwards of $50,000.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
