{"id":241873,"date":"2026-03-29T07:41:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T07:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/241873\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T07:41:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T07:41:26","slug":"california-dad-arrested-for-repainting-adding-stop-signs-at-dangerous-intersection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/241873\/","title":{"rendered":"California dad arrested for repainting, adding stop signs at dangerous intersection"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

A California dad was arrested this month over his desperate bid to make a dangerous intersection near a children\u2019s park safer.<\/p>\n

Joseph Brandlin, 44, installed 30-inch-high signs and painted the word \u201cSTOP\u201d on the ground \u2014 just weeks after his son was nearly caught up in a crash, which he described as the \u201clast straw,\u201d the Los Angeles Times reported.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI was almost done and no one was going to know anything,\u201d Brandlin told officials at a city council meeting March 17.<\/p>\n

\"Joseph<\/p>\n

Joseph Brandlin decided to act after city officials refused to install extra stop signs. El Segundo Media \/ youTube<\/p>\n

Brandlin took drastic action when he and other residents unsuccessfully lobbied city officials for the intersection to be turned into a four-way stop.<\/p>\n

Brandlin, who spent approximately $1,000 on the renovation, was busted around 2 a.m. March 14 when cops saw the father crossing the street as he was carrying the signage.<\/p>\n

He branded the decision \u201cmind-boggling,\u201d citing other four-way stops in the city, and now risks jail after being charged with grand theft and vandalism over $400.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was arrested and charged with two felony counts,\u201d Brandlin said. \u201cI was treated like a serious criminal with an effort that was motivated solely by the concern of the children of this neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite jail fears, Brandlin has no regrets \u2014 if his actions mean fatalities are going to be avoided.<\/p>\n

\"He<\/p>\n

He painted the word \u201cStop\u201d on the ground. Joseph Brandlin<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do it again if that\u2019s what it takes. Because I\u2019m not gonna wait for somebody to die,\u201d he told CBS News.<\/a><\/p>\n

Brandlin said the intersection is 100 feet from a rebuilt park that became a \u201cpopular destination for families and children,\u201d estimating the youngsters there at around 3 to 7 years old.<\/p>\n

Brandlin told the LA Times he had witnessed several near misses involving kids \u2014 including his son, who was almost hit by a bike.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the last straw,\u201d he told the LA Times.<\/p>\n

\"He<\/p>\n

He installed temporary stop signs. Joseph Brandlin<\/p>\n

He also presented 73 letters from households backing his safety measures to city council leaders, but no action has yet been taken.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city just wasn\u2019t listening,\u201d he scoffed.<\/p>\n

Brandlin is due to appear in court in June and officials have since removed the temporary stop signs and covered up the paintwork.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A California dad was arrested this month over his desperate bid to make a dangerous intersection near a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[108553,7,9,8,108552,5343,14945,108551],"class_list":["post-241873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-brandlin","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-childrens-park","tag-city-officials","tag-dangerous-intersection","tag-joseph-brandlin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}