Man admits he trashed Watertown apartment with graffiti

May 24--WATERTOWN -- A Watertown man admitted Friday in Jefferson County Court that he trashed an apartment he rented on .

Mark R. Stewart, 54, whose last known address was 1005 Franklin St., pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted criminal mischief. He admitted that between Dec. 1, 2012, and Aug. 5 he did more than $5,000 damage to property at 909 Washington St.

Police said at the time of his arrest in March that Mr. Stewart covered the walls of the apartment with biblical quotes and damaged a radiator, stove and other appliances belonging to J. Clancy Hopkins, who died Feb. 13 at age 89. In addition to the graffiti on the walls, Mr. Stewart was accused of tearing a steel radiator from the living room wall, ripping apart a closet, stripping molding from around windows and removing the kitchen sink and drywall. Mr. Hopkins had reported that Mr. Stewart changed the lock months before the damage was discovered and did not leave Mr. Hopkins a key.

Mr. Stewart had left the area before he was charged, but was arrested March 4 in Baton Rouge, La., on an unrelated charge and returned to Watertown. He is expected to be sentenced July 18 to six months in the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building and five years' probation. He also will be ordered to pay $500 in restitution to Mr. Hopkins's widow, Patti, and $26,117 to New York Central Mutual, the property's insurance carrier, in the form of a civil judgment.

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