37-year-old man arrested after vandalizing Joe Montana statue at Levi’s stadium

A suspect was arrested after a statue of Joe Montana at Levi’s Stadium was vandalized after Monday night’s game against the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. I’m not going to list his name, but you can find it in the hyperlink above. According to Santa Clara police, the 37-year old man pulled the face mask off the statue of the legendary Niners quarterback.

I left the stadium at about 11:30 p.m., and the face mask was still on the statue. As you can see from the timestamp above, the statue was defaced until well after midnight. I know that there are drinking and adrenaline, and flat out stupidity that goes on after games. I can’t imagine the thought process in going through with doing something like this and expecting not to get caught. Security lightens up as the night goes on, but the stadium is well-equipped with cameras all over the place. He had no chance of getting away with this.

I imagine the victim left the stadium to get whatever tools he needed to take the face mask off, came back post-game, and forgot that the cameras still roll after the game ends.

Here is the statement from the 49ers, who expect the statue to be repaired before Sunday’s game against the Cardinals:

“The Joe Montana statue that is part of the ‘The Catch’ art installation located inside the stadium’s Gate A plaza was vandalized following our recent Monday Night Football game. Security personnel apprehended the individual soon thereafter, and the Santa Clara Police Department arrested the individual on felony vandalism charges. Crews have already begun repairs on the statue and expect work to be complete before Sunday’s home game. As this is an ongoing police matter, we will not have any additional comment.”

Moral of the story? It’s never worth it, and think things through.

Here’s the full video: