WHITTIER — A sheriff’s lieutenant arrested a 31-year-old Whittier gang member earlier this week after catching him in the act of scrawling graffiti in the men’s room of the sheriff’s academy.

Jordan Trevor Lucas, 31, was booked on suspicion of misdemeanor vandalism following his arrest Wednesday afternoon, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said. 

Lucas, a “self-proclaimed gang member,” took a short cut through the campus of the Sheriff’s Training Academy and Regional Services Center, 11515 S. Colima Road in an unincorporated county area south of Whittier, shortly after 1 p.m. when he decided to leave his mark, Lt. Josie Woolum said in a written statement.

“A Sheriff’s lieutenant went into the men’s room at the Sheriff’s Academy and soon heard a scratching sound coming from the stalls,” Woolum said. “When he looked to see what was causing the sound he saw the suspect writing letters on the stall door with a black marker.”

According to sheriff’s officials and county booking records, Lucas was released Wednesday night on $1,000 bail and ordered to appear for an arraignment in Whittier Superior Court in late November.

BOOKING PHOTO of Jordan Lucas courtesy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department