Miami police say they’ve arrested the man accused of leading the vandalism that transformed the once-abandoned VITAS building in Downtown Miami into a brightly painted graffiti landmark, ending months of investigation into a case that sparked fierce debate over art and blight in the city’s skyline.
After the building’s demolition and continuous investigation, the City of Miami Police announced that they arrested 37-year-old Paul Mario Hoyos this week for being the primary offender of vandalizing the building, along with portions of the Interstate 395 overpass and other locations across the city.
According to arrest affidavits obtained by CBS News Miami, Hoyos is facing several charges, including burglary of an occupied structure, trespassing on a posted construction site, conducting business without a license and criminal mischief exceeding $1,000 in damages.
Hoyos is believed to have orchestrated “numerous vandalism incidents” across Miami-Dade County, many of which bore his tag “TESOE.” The first incident, which happened in late 2023, along with other recent incidents, caused thousands of dollars in damage[s],” Miami Police said.
Police added that they are expecting additional arrests as the investigation continues.
“The demolition of the VITAS building and the passage of time did not diminish our resolve,” said Miami Police Chief Manny Morales. “Our detectives’ unwavering commitment has removed a serial vandal from our streets, and we will continue pursuing all those involved.”
CBS News Miami
A colorful crime that led to a heated debate in Miami
The VITAS building, also known as the VITAS Healthcare building, was once a prominent structure in Downtown Miami, located on 100 Biscayne Blvd. It was part of a former hospice care center operated by VITAS. Still, after it moved its operations to a new facility, the building was abandoned and left vacant ever since.
In December 2023, a series of burglaries happened at the VITAS building, where trespassers entered the building for “tagging,” or the act of illegally spray-painting property with graffiti that does not belong to the “tagger” (graffiti artist) without the property owner’s consent. A “tag” is a tagger’s signature that is unique to the individual and belongs solely to them.
At the time, a Miami Police detective who was assigned to patrol the area found the tag “TESOE” on the side of the VITAS building. According to the arrest affidavits, the building was “completely secured” by a continuous fence with posted construction site signs attached.
While the police investigated, the brightly painted VITAS building became the center of a heated debate among residents, city leaders, and tourists, with opinions sharply divided on whether it was an urban masterpiece or an eyesore tarnishing the Miami skyline.
In Nov. 2024, City Commissioner Joe Carollo held a press conference, where he voiced his demand for the building to be repainted immediately, claiming that its colorful exterior, which hadn’t been changed since the first tagging, detracted from Miami’s downtown view.
“My understanding is that the owners of the building had issues with the city over code violations, and as a result, they painted it like this to make a point,” Carollo alleged at the time. “They’re not thinking about our residents, and it’s ruining the skyline.”
The VITAS building’s exterior drew mixed reactions from everyone. However, Carollo was particularly eager to see the building repainted before Miami’s New Year’s Eve celebration on Dec. 31, 2024.
When CBS News Miami reached out to the building’s owners in November 2024 regarding Carollo’s accusations, they firmly responded, “No comment.”
In response, City Commissioner Damian Pardo said there was a plan in place to cover up the VITAS building, claiming that the building owners would cover it with screens to hide the graffiti.
As the debate raged on, the VITAS building cemented its place as a polarizing piece of Miami’s urban landscape while it faced demolition.
A billboard tagging and social media led to the ringleader
In April 2025, while conducting a separate investigation, Miami Police detectives found an Instagram page called “004CONNEC,” named after an alleged criminal gang comprised of several members, one of whom is known as “TESOE,” and operated the account “T3SOE.”
Authorities said that further investigation revealed that Hoyos was the owner and user of the account after a video posted to 004CONNEC’s page showed him allegedly tagging the word “TESOE” with red letters. Other posts on the Instagram page showed members wearing similar clothes with the same “004” logo and allegedly committing various criminal offenses, the arrest affidavits said.
Meanwhile, Miami Police were also investigating another graffiti incident where serial taggings defaced multiple billboards owned by the advertisement agency Outfront Media near Northwest 3rd Court and 1st Street. One witness, a company employee, provided detectives with the T3SOE Instagram page and claimed that its user — Hoyos — was responsible for the graffiti, causing $2,000 worth of damage.
Detectives then spoke with another witness, who represented the VITAS building, who informed them that the approximate cost to repair the damage made by the graffiti was $10,000.
Through investigative means, Miami Police detectives were able to retrieve data that connected Hoyos to a phone number associated with the T3SOE account and tracked his devices to be present at or near the various incidents, the arrest affidavit said.
According to the arrest affidavits, additional investigations revealed that Hoyos operated an illegal business, where a records check showed that the business “does not exist and that [he] lacks the required documentation to operate.”
It wasn’t until the early hours of Tuesday that detectives found Hoyos at Miami International Airport and took him to police headquarters for questioning. While being interviewed by police, Hoyos allegedly declined to speak, and was then formally arrested and booked into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
