Suspect in Napa LGBTQ sign vandalism case sentenced

Napa Register

Riley Palmer

October 31, 2024

ANapa County Superior Court judge sentenced the man suspected of vandalizing the local nonprofit LGBTQ Connection’s placard on a Napa city welcome sign to a month in jail and two years of probation, along with paying restitution and court fees.

The Napa County District Attorney’s office charged Fairfield resident Wade Andrew Wilson, 61, with vandalism and a hate crime enhancement after he used black spray paint to blot out the LGBTQ Connection’s circular emblem on the welcome sign on Jan. 8. The incident was caught on cameras that had recently been installed on Soscol Avenue, near Napa State Hospital. 

Deputy District Attorney Kayla Richeson said Wilson's act carries significance and was harmful to Napa's LGBTQ community.

“By defacing a symbol that stands for diversity and acceptance, the defendant’s actions sent a harmful message of intolerance and exclusion," Richeson said in a statement. "Our community in Napa works hard to foster an environment where everyone feels welcomed and safe, and the defendant’s criminal act strikes directly at the heart of this effort.”

Wilson was arrested in late January after LGBTQ Connection's placard was vandalized for the third time in six months, and in March initially pleaded not guilty. He later changed his plea to no contest, neither admitting guilt nor disputing the charge. The plea agreement called for no more than 120 days in jail, and Wilson also agreed to pay restitution, go on probation and not purchase spray paint. 

Members of LGBTQ Connection have seen the act, along with previous attempts to deface the welcome sign placard, as a hate crime.

Heather "Coach" Bailie, director of LGBTQ Connection, said she was disappointed with the sentencing, but added it would nonetheless send a message that such behavior will not be tolerated in Napa.

"When people cannot control the hate in their hearts and commit vandalism that deeply impacts others, and when a community comes together to find who is responsible, the results can yield what we see today — accountability and justice," Bailie said in a statement.

Napa resident Rob Doughty helps coordinate Napa's annual Pride celebrations annually and attended the sentencing. Afterward, Doughty said that the act of vandalism was senseless and thought as a society we had moved passed this.

"I feel like in the political climate we're in, people feel emboldened to do these sorts of things," he said. "I'm hoping soon we'll heal and move on."

Judge Scott R.L. Young was originally slated to sentence Wilson on Sept. 24, but Wilson opted to reschedule. California allows defendants to request the same judge who accepted their plea sentence them unless they waive that right.

Wilson requested that the judge who presided over his plea hearing, Elia Ortiz, oversee his sentencing as well. 

The public defacing was the last of three on the LGBTQ Connection’s welcome sign placard. The first occurred in July 2023, when the logos of other organizations were also damaged. The latter two incidents targeted only the circular LBGTQ Connection emblem, outlined in purple with a splash of rainbow hues at the top.

Lambert Chambers-Hernandez, a former LGBTQ Connection employee, said that living in fear because of one's identity is not something that should be tolerated. 

"It's something I shouldn't have to adjust for," he said after the sentencing. "I just hope that this is one point that we can use as a catalyst to keep pushing for that change that's needed, so we don't have to live in fear, and no one else has to live in fear."