Deputies arrest three after racist graffiti found at Leto High School

TAMPA — Three teens were arrested late Monday after deputies said they were caught on camera spray-painting numerous racist and obscene messages throughout the Leto High School campus, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Alexander Valladares, 19, and two 18-year-olds, Kevin Narvaez and Yonjer Suarez, were booked into the county jail on charges of burglary with damage totaling more than $1,000 and felony criminal mischief totaling more than $1,000.

The Sheriff's Office said surveillance cameras on Nov. 26 recorded three males spray painting obscenities on classroom trash cans, concrete walkways, windows, walls, pillars, and even the roof of the school from 1 to 3 a.m.

They left graffiti above school drinking fountains that read "whites only" and "blacks only," among several other messages that were racist, explicit or obscene, investigators said. The estimated damage to the school at 4409 W. Sligh Ave. was estimated to be about $600, deputies said.

Contact Anastasia Dawson at adawson@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3377. Follow @adawsonwrites