Car paint damaged, same guy arrested

A man who allegedly keyed nine cars in front of the Banks Lake Pub, Dec. 12, is accused of doing it again, this time with a cellphone and in the Electric City Bar & Grill parking lot, according to police.

They once again arrested and took to Grant County Jail, Nicholas Swartz, 26, who gave his address as Everett, Wa.

He was arrested this time on New Year’s day after allegedly scratching the trunk lid of a car owned by Mary Adkins.

Bartender Jessica Sumner told police Swartz scratched the trunk lid with a cell phone, then fled on foot up Western Avenue.

Officers looked for Swartz, found him nearby and asked him if he had a cellphone. When he produced one, the officer could see that the edges of the phone had been worn down, a police report states. Swartz was arrested on an outstanding warrant from a malicious mischief charge, as well as for the incident.

Earlier, in the Dec. 12 case, Swartz had allegedly keyed nine cars in front of Banks Lake Pub. A person across the street reported witnessing the incident.

That time he was also arrested and taken to Grant County Jail, where he was still incarcerated Tuesday night, according to jail records. Damage to the nine cars in that earlier incident was estimated at $5,000.