The mysterious case of a chain-saw-wielding vandal who terrorized trees in and around downtown Los Angeles last year has come to an anticlimactic close. Just as the trial for Samuel Patrick Groft was about to kick off, the 45-year-old pleaded no contest on Wednesday to a slew of vandalism charges stemming from the seven-day slashing rampage.
Groft was sentenced to two years in county jail and will pay restitution in an amount to be determined at a hearing in April, according to Cynthia Valenzuela, an L.A. County deputy district attorney with the Environmental Crimes Division.
City officials had previously testified that the loss of three trees, including cleanup and replacement costs, would total almost $175,000. Dan Halden, a spokesperson for the city’s Bureau of Street Services, did not immediately respond to questions about the total cost of the tree losses or the replanting process. In May, he said the city had started the process of replacing the trees.
Groft was accused of cutting down 12 trees and sawing the limb off a 13th over a seven-day period beginning April 13. His acts occurred sometimes in broad daylight and other times in the dead of night.
Officials asked the public for help identifying the vandal, who was wearing all black and riding a bike with a backpack and a duffel bag, which was believed to hold a chainsaw. Detectives eventually identified Groft as a suspect after finding his name on the receipt for a chainsaw he purchased just moments before cutting a large branch from a tree on North Figueroa Street.
On Wednesday, Groft pleaded no contest to nine felony counts of vandalism and two misdemeanor vandalism charges. Valenzuela declined to comment further on the case, and attorneys for Groft also declined to comment.
Without a trial, it’s unlikely the public will ever know what triggered the bizarre string of tree cuttings.
Groft, who was arrested at an encampment in Chinatown, had been living on the streets for some time. Concern arose about his mental health and whether it played a role in the vandalism, especially after he told officers he was surprised by his arrest around Earth Day and professed his affinity for trees.
“He said something like, ‘I love trees, I love bark, I’m an arborist,’” Los Angeles Police Department Detective Jose Hidalgo testified after Groft’s arrest.
In 2023, Groft also told a student journalist at Cal State L.A. that he had previously completed a mental health court diversion program. This program offers residential mental health treatment as an alternative to incarceration for people facing jail time.
Groft’s attorneys expressed doubts about his mental competency in November, but a judge deemed him competent after an evaluation. Court filings also mentioned that Groft “may suffer from substance use disorder” and that he was willing to participate in a substance use program as a condition of pretrial release.
However, it is unclear if he ever took part in such a program, as the judge denied the request for pretrial release. In their request, Groft’s attorneys said his detention had allowed him to “reflect on the life of sobriety that he so desperately desires.”
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-02-11/la-man-who-went-on-7-day-tree-slashing-rama-is-sentenced