Police in View Park are investigating a potential hate crime after a family was the target of racist graffiti on their property.
Vandalism discovered the morning after Halloween is generally not unheard of in the community at large. However, the words scrawled across the Garbutt home were scarier than any Halloween prank they could ever imagine.
“I just … I really didn’t know what to do I had no words for it,” said Elizabeth Garbutt.
On Friday, the family was woken up by a frantic employee from the neighboring school warning of the vile messages scrawled around their home.
“She said, ‘Somebody has graffitied your cars, your house, your sidewalk … the gate on the side and they have the N-word,'” recalled Garbutt.
Garbutt said the sight brought her to tears. Her daughter, Elyse, tells NBC4 she doesn’t know what to think.
Elyse works with children. She said she had to call her boss and tell them she couldn’t handle school pickup on Friday because she had a racial slur scrawled on her car, and didn’t think it would be appropriate for the school pickup line.
For the family, perhaps the only thing scarier than what happened is why it happened.
The Garbutt’s have lived in the home for 35 years, surrounded by long-time neighbors in a community that’s had a large Black population for generations. Their home is across the street from Crenshaw High School and the Garbutt’s say they have never had any issues with vandalism, or crime.
They’ve racked their brains for everything from possible traffic disputes to ex-partners, to business conflicts — and they tell NBC4 they cannot think of any reason someone would target their home.
“I’m tossing and turning and can’t sleep at night, trying to figure out who would do this to us,” said Garbutt.
Los Angeles police want to know the same thing.
The Garbutt’s have had several conversations with officers and on Monday, detectives arrived to search for witnesses, potential other vandalism, and more video footage.