A man was charged Monday with vandalizing Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in July, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Austin Clay, 24, of Glendale, was charged with one felony count of vandalism after allegedly using a pickax to smash the star along Hollywood Boulevard on July 25, according to a DA’s office news release. He left the scene but turned himself in to police the next day, prosecutors said.
Clay is expected to be arraigned on Aug. 15 at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. If convicted as charged, he could face a possible maximum sentence of three years in jail, according to the DA’s office. Bail was recommended to be set at $20,000.
The July incident marked the second time Trump’s star was vandalized in the past two years.
A man dressed as a construction worker and also wielding a pickax damaged the star in October 2016. The act was captured on video.
In that incident, James Lambert Otis was taken into custody after admitting responsibility.
Meanwhile, the West Hollywood City Council is expected to vote Monday night on a proposal to urge the city of L.A. and Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to remove the star “due to [Trump’s] disturbing treatment of women and other actions,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
