CORONADO, CA
Facebook quote from Christopher Matthew Tuttle:"Well I know what it was about.... supposedly the paintings of the kid is the owners son... the son was arrested for drugs and the mother claimed the Coronado PD beat her son up and that it was a racial issue... bogus... so in anger and retaliation she posted a bunch of horrible things about the cops all over her walls and painted pictures of her kid... if you ask me, I think she's sick... but whatever..."When I was in San Diego last week, I made a point of going over to Coronado Island to take some pictures. I lived on the island for almost 4 years and graduated from Coronado High School in 1999. The city is a seemingly charming place full of wealthy and upper middle class residents, as well as a large group of Navy employees who work or dock at the huge Navy base that occupies nearly half of the island. The place feels a bit like an illustrated storybook, and as a teen, (often without a car) it felt sort of like a tropical prison where we were stranded.
One thing I remember from later visits was this particular set of murals that are painted on 2 sides of a small residential house.
The quaint island home sits directly on the split point of the 2 busiest streets in Coronado. Every single person who comes to Coronado from Downtown takes the Bay Bridge, which becomes 3rd st. as you enter the island
and 4Th st. as you leave...
...this house is essentially the hood ornament for Coronado, CA.
On first glance, the painting on the home appears to be a tribute to the community or perhaps a daycare, with many different pictures of children doing assorted activities (hockey, swimming, soccer, graduation, etc.).
With a closer look, you can see that there are several layers (literally & figuratively) to the art. Surrounding the imagery are bits of hand written graffiti, some of it has been painted over with a thin coat of off white paint that is thin enough to still show some of the writing. In parts, someone has rewritten the scrawl in tyhe same spots creating ghost images and drop shadows out of the buffed over words.
There are also small accents added later that are done in a pencil or oil stick, they adorn some of the existing figures and add a bit of depth. One added sketch has a set of numbers and notches, essentially creating a mug shot background behind the young child wearing suspenders and a bow tie. Another sketched addition is the faint teddy-bear that is sitting in the baby crib.
In many areas paint has also dripped down over the art. There used to be writing along the top of the fence that has been painted over in a quick and messy fashion, causing long cream colored drips.
The only place where graffiti still remains, or has been redrawn heavily is on the garage and fron walkway of the house. The picture of the young boy in soccer gear, and the young man wearing the sweater are heavily ornamented by the dark heavy scratch letters that have faded away or been painted over.
The story presented at the beginning seems to be the unanimous word of Coronado residents. It was guy named Karl, who I remember vaguely if not only for the fact that he was one of only 15-20 black kids (mostly transfers) who were actually in the Coronado public school system. Karl used to skate too, and there were only 2-3 black kids who did that (Shane, the cool young kid with the huge afro, and Karl, who was taller and a few years older).
Perhaps a horrible way to classify and remember someone, but it was reality in the community of Coronado. Coronado is about as white as you get, so it isn't far fetched to me at all that racial profiling exists, I know that age based profiling was alive and well as I grew up. Sure, if you see a group of rowdy teens at 2 in the morning, you may have just cause to stop them , but in Coronado, it seemed there was a full on war between the cops and anyone under the age of 20. One unconfirmed detail I heard from a friend and Coronado native, was that Karl had stolen his neighbors porche, taken it joy riding while high on crack, then crashed the car and parked it in his own driveway, in view of the legal owners front window. He then fell asleep in the car, and when police arrived he resisted, until they broke a window and dragged him out.
As I said, this is just a rumor from one island resident. As I search for any details about a possible case or police report on the incident, I come up with nothing. Residents I've talked to shake their head at the story, as if it was a fly who got swatted and now they have to look at the smear on the window everyday. There is seemingly no sympathy for the residents of the house, and I have still not heard any confirmation about wether Karl is even alive or dead. It all has turned into a bit of an urban legend with the same purveying story line, bad kid acting dumb, cops didn't do anything.
If anyone has any information that is factual or relevant, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment. I'm curious about what actually happened and really can't justify walking up and knocking on the door. The thought crossed my mind, but who am I to disturb this woman and her home regarding such a sensitive subject.
