Sheriff Scott Miller claim on Hwy 68 to be removed

Submitted photo

A message likely seen by hundreds of drivers between Salinas and Monterey is in the process of being removed.

Sometime around May 6 an individual, or group, hiked up a hill off of Highway 68 near the Reservation Road exit and spray painted a message about Sheriff Scott Miller.

It said, “MEDIA SHERRIFF (sic) MILLER GOT $10,000 FROM P.G. ART HEIST SCAMMERS.”

Whoever wrote the message never came forward or produced any evidence. Miller said he had no idea what the message meant and the other campaigns distanced themselves from it.

The property is owned by Santa Monica-based Domain Corporation and leased to cattle ranchers.

In a letter from Domain Vice President Mark Kelton, he tells the sheriff the matter is a mystery to him too.

“We are very sorry to learn of this incident and have no knowledge about who is responsible for these statements,” he wrote. “. . . Upon discussing this matter with the cattle ranchers, they told us that they were also disappointed that someone would trespass on the property to spray paint any type of message.”

It is impossible to say for sure, but the message seems to point to a two-year investigation by the Sheriff’s Office into stolen artwork from a Pebble Beach home.

The men who said they had been robbed, Angelo Amadio and Ralph Kennaugh, said they lost $80 million of dollars of art.

Current sheriff candidate Mike Richards said in 2009 (as then-spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office) investigators suspected Amadio and Kennaugh of possible fraud.

Richards, who remembers the case well, said Thursday he has no idea who wrote the message.

There are no records of Amadio or Kennaugh donating to Miller’s 2010 or current sheriff’s campaign.