Gwinnett Rock Band Accused Of Vandalism

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- Four men were arrested after police said they vandalized 20 Lawrenceville businesses and two vehicles in order to get free advertising for their punk rock band.

"It's going to cost all of us a lot of money to clean it up," said business owner Ziggy Szoltysck. Szoltysck owns Atlanta Strings on Depot Street in Lawrenceville.

He walked Channel 2’s Kerry Kavanaugh around his business and showed the graffiti he discovered Wednesday moing.

"I was shocked because we are very close to the police station and usually nothing happens here," he said.

Lawrenceville police said vandals hit locations around Lawrenceville city square.

But, it didn't take long to track the vandals down after police figured out what "Another Ember Falls" or ”AEF stood for.

"Put that in any search engine and of course Facebook, YouTube stuff like that started popping up," said Sgt. Brad Grove with the Lawrenceville crime suppression unit.

Grove told Kavanaugh that "Another Ember Falls" is a punk rock bank from Snellville that was looking for some free advertising.

Police arrested three band members Raymond Jacques, Christopher Farrow, Xavier Walker and a fourth participant, Tony Zjalic. They're all charged with felony criminal damage to property.

"Put some posters up, spend some money on some fliers or something. The city of Lawrenceville, and I'm sure any other city in Gwinnett County or Atlanta, is not going tolerate this," Grove said.

Around Lawrenceville square, a Channel 2 crew spotted traces of the vandalism on garbage bins, businesses and traffic signs. The crime suppression unit quickly blasted away what they could. But businesses owners will have to repaint the rest.

"Somebody will pay for it. Right now, it's us, the citizens," Szoltysck said.

Police want to make sure that they have talked to all of the victims. If you are a victim, call the Lawrenceville Police Department's Crime Suppression unit at 770-670-5013.