Men say city denied them reward

Daniel Arellanes and James Bensley came home from work one May afternoon to find two teenagers spray-painting graffiti on a wall in front of Arellanes' home. It wasn't the first time that the wall had been the target of graffiti. Arellanes estimates that he has painted over graffiti on the wall at Charlotte Avenue and Claudina Street about 10 times. He has an almost-empty bucket of white paint to prove it. But this time, Arellanes, 34, and Bensley, 29, caught the perpetrators. They chased the two teen-agers down the street and held them for 45 minutes until the police arrived. The gang enforcement unit arrived, took photographs of the wall and of the two teen-agers with spray paint on their hands, Arellanes said. Arellanes said he was congratulated and told by the police that he and Bensley would be eligible for a $500 reward from the city of Anaheim. But it's eight months later and the duo has yet to see a dime of the reward. The hitch is that the two youths were not convicted in Juvenile Court for the offense, which is required by the city before a reward is handed out. Instead, the two were placed in a diversion program. The requirement of a conviction is clearly stated on city leaflets and posters about the reward, said Richard LaRochelle, an Anaheim code enforcement supervisor. "We make it very clear," he said. Arellanes and Bensley were subpoenaed to appear, in Juvenile Court but were then told they didn't have to appear and that a conviction was likely.