Movie producer apologizes to neighbors about graffiti at Hollywood Hills mansions

By Jasmine Viel

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    HOLLYWOOD HILLS, California (KCAL, KCBS) — A movie producer apologized to his Hollywood Hills neighbors on Friday after vandals covered his abandoned mansions with graffiti.

Owner John Powers Middleton delivered the apology in a statement, saying that what happened to his homes is unacceptable.

Neighbors said they have complained for years about the properties. While Middleton has cleaned up the properties off Mulholland Drive and Sunset Plaza Drive, his neighbors said his apology is far from enough.

“I’m tired of people giving apologies,” one neighbor said.

Middleton’s response comes after the city posted eviction notices and issued a lien against his home after he defaulted on property taxes for years.

“I’m doing my best to make the houses secure and fix them up, with the intent to sell each as soon as possible,” he wrote. “I’m disappointed to note that even as I have worked this week to paint over the graffiti, vandals still managed to break in and paint over the newly cleaned walls.”

The Los Angeles Police Department arrested two vandalism suspects, one of whom was armed with a gun, Wednesday morning. The agency had an officer patrolling the area on Friday.

City Councilwoman Nithya Raman’s office said they have erected 12-foot fences at both properties, removed graffiti and pumped the pools.

Neighbors hope their neighborhood has finally started to return to what it once was.

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