Paint Man at large in LA as Dodgers fans celebrate World Series win in wild riot

As soon as the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the 2024 World Series, a city-wide celebration was inevitable. As is the case with any major sporting event, things quickly got out of hand -- appropriate, considering what the fan base was robbed of in 2020.

However, the festivities in Los Angeles got particularly rough as vandalism, cars doing donuts in the middle of the street, and more vandalism started escalating in a hurry, as LAPD tried to get things under control while having fireworks thrown at them. In case it wasn't clear, all of that stuff is unacceptable, and hopefully those responsible will face the consequences.

One enterprising LA videographer, Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, captured the chaos as it was unfolding. Most of it was just sad, as fans were completely out of control and getting apprehended by law enforcement, but one character, and his fate, stood out from the rest.

There was, uh, a man covered in blue paint who was also painting the sidewalk.

Amidst Dodgers World Series celebration and riots, LA Paint Man's fate remains unknown

First things first, no one should condone vandalism. The city of Los Angeles and the business owners in the area end up on the hook for the costs of cleaning up afterwards, and that's pretty messed up. It sounds like LA law enforcement eventually made several arrests and got things calmed down, but it was still poor form.

However, one cannot help than be haunted by Paint Man. This guy showed up to a World Series celebration with a can of blue paint and thought, "I need to cover myself in paint, crawl around like Gollum from Lord of the Rings, and express my thoughts on the sidewalk." Did he just find some paint somewhere and make an impulse decision, or did he plan this ahead of time for some reason? What was he writing? Just....WHY?! The people have questions.

Adding to his legend, riot police descended upon Paint Man in the above video and he somehow managed to escape arrest in a scene that looked like something out of Reno 911! -- at least at first glance. Did Paint Man end up getting arrested and punished? Is he currently hiding out with the Blue Man Group until the heat dies down? We may never know.

The prevailing images from the Dodgers' triumph are going to be Freddie Freeman's dominance and their incredible comeback in Game 5, but the image of Paint Man scuttling off into the night amidst the chaos could end up lingering for a while.

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