Police on Friday charged a man accused of having vandalized the statue of the late, iconic blues legend that stands on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake. The statue was first spray-painted with graffiti on Monday —the day after the Philadelphia beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl — when witnesses said they saw a man defacing the monument before outfitting it in an Eagles jersey, police said.
Witnesses were able to jot down the license plate number from the man's vehicle and called 911 — as good a reason to call the emergency line given Vaughn's god-like status in these parts that served as the late Dallas-born musician's stomping grounds.
With the plate number, police were able to track the man to his home. The suspect was identified as Matthew Rutledge, 39, who was charged with a Class B misdemeanor.
Rutledge allegedly scrawled "Philly loves St. Nick" on the surface of the statue, likely an allusion to Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, a graduate of Westlake High School in Austin. By sheer coincidence (or is it?), the man's arrest comes on the day that Austin Mayor Steve Adler proclaimed Friday as "Nick Foles Day."