LOS ANGELES _ A Southern California artist was arrested Monday on suspicion of trespassing in connection with altering the Hollywood sign to read "HOLLYWeeD" on New Year's Day, police said.
Accompanied by an attorney, Zachary Cole Fernandez, 30, surrendered shortly after noon to Los Angeles Police Department detectives in Hollywood, according to Capt. Cory Palka. He was booked on the misdemeanor offense and released on $1,000 bail two hours later.
Fernandez, of Pomona, is scheduled to appear Feb. 15 in Los Angeles Superior Court, according to the Hollywood Division captain.
The Hollywood sign was not damaged in Fernandez's prank, but the letters were briefly changed, police said.
Police said surveillance footage showed a man dressed in black, tactical-style gear scaling the sign's ladders and hanging tarps over the O's to change them to E's at 3 a.m. on Jan. 1. One of the tarps was decorated with a peace sign, and another with a heart.
"The Hollywood Sign has seen many alteration attempts over the years for people seeking notoriety or commercial gain," Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu said in a statement. "Pranks of this nature deplete the resources of our valuable public safety personnel, in both responding to the prank and in responding to the increased crowds and copycat attempts that these incidents generate."
Last week, an LAPD spokeswoman had said investigators were "talking to a person" in connection with New Year's Day prank. Officer Liliana Preciado said detectives would not arrest the prankster on suspicion of trespassing, but would instead present their findings to prosecutors.
Days after the sign alteration, Fernandez, who calls himself "Jesus Hands," told the online magazine Vice that he and his "creative partner/former wife, Sarah Fern," were responsible for the prank.
Fern and Fernandez said they aware they could face consequences for revealing their identities. But Fern told Vice, "We're OK with that."
Fern told Vice that they "mapped it out together and double checked measurements and everything."
Fernandez told Vice he used a rope to swing around the letters and used clamps to clip sheets of fabric and photographs to them. The entire act took about two hours, he told the magazine.
The prank, they said, was an homage to Daniel Finegood, a California State University, Northridge student who pulled off the same act on New Year's Day in 1976.
Finegood scaled Mount Lee with $50 worth of curtains and changed the sign to coincide with the first day California classified possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana as a misdemeanor, rather than a felony.
The couple said they also drew inspiration from the divisive election, saying they hoped the piece brought conversation and positivity.
