Was Lockland resident's painting around potholes a 'public service' or crime?

A Lockland resident is awaiting his day in court after being accused of defacing public property by marking potholes with spray paint.

However, village officials say this isn't the first time Gregory Strole, a 66-year-old retired firefighter, marked public roadways with paint and he's been warned against it in the past.

“We knew who did this because he’s done it before,” said Lockland Administrator Doug Wehmeyer.

Strole is charged with criminal mischief , a third-degree misdemeanor, in Hamilton County Municipal Court. Court records show he’s requested a jury trial in Judge Samantha Silverstein’s courtroom.

In April, Strole painted orange circles around potholes on several streets throughout the village, according to an affidavit filed in Lockland Mayor’s Court. The village’s maintenance department reported the markings.

Strole admitted marking the potholes with paint when interviewed by police, saying that “he was tired of how long it was taking public works to fill in potholes around the Village,” the affidavit reads.

Officials said the roadway markings were a similar color to markings on the sidewalk in front of Strole’s home.

Strole pleaded not guilty during an arraignment on Tuesday and a pretrial hearing has been set for Aug. 21.

“I don’t know what the village is trying to get out of this,” Stephanie Lape, his attorney, told The Enquirer.

Lape said that Strole and other residents previously raised concerns about the potholes to council members, but nothing was done despite some being in the village for years.

“Really our position is that he didn’t do anything wrong, he was doing a public service,” she said. “He was trying to keep people from hitting these potholes that Lockland was failing to repair.”

Lockland Police Chief Michael Ott admonished Strole over marking the roadways but was charged a short time after that conversation, according to Lape.

If convicted, Strole faces up to 60 days in jail, a possible fine or probation. Lape said that incarceration is a remote possibility because Strole lacks a criminal history.

Village officials dispute the claim that Strole’s primary motivation was to improve roadway safety.

Wehmeyer said the village will always have to deal with potholes and that repair efforts are often constrained by the supply of asphalt and weather conditions.

When all of this occurred, the village was in the process of replacing a vacancy left by the former public works director, Wehmeyer said, adding that potholes requiring easier fixes have been addressed while work continues on the major ones.

“So it wasn’t about notifying motorists,” Wehmeyer said. “It was about somebody being unhappy with the process and choosing to handle it in a very immature way.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Was Lockland resident's painting around potholes a 'public service' or crime?