Antonio Silvestri. (Photo courtesy St. Pete Police Department)
ST. PETERSBURG | A second arrest was made July 9 in connection with the defacing of the city’s Progressive Pride street mural in May.
Antonio Silvestri, 30, was “caught recklessly maneuvering his truck in a way to leave tire marks across the rainbow mural and causing significant damage,” according to the St. Pete Police Department.
Footage shows Silvestri in his white Ford pickup doing donuts on the mural on May 17 around 10:40 a.m. The mural had been restored in the weeks prior ahead of St Pete Pride 2024.
The damages to the mural amounted to over $1,000. Silvestri was booked on July 9 and posted his $5,500 bail the same day.
SPPD previously arrested Christian Maier July 1, charging the 18-year-old for defacing the mural after Silvestri on May 22. Both were seen doing burnouts, leaving tire marks across its design.
Both were charged with one count of felony criminal mischief and one count of racing on a street. Silvestri’s investigation is still open according to the department. Read more here.
“It’s great to have an arrest in this case due to the hard work from the detective and the information provided from the community,” Major Markus Hughes, the department’s LGBTQ+ liaison, told Watermark after Maier’s arrest.
