By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A Brookline man described by police as one of Pittsburgh’s most prolific graffiti vandals over a two-year period has surrendered to authorities.
Matthew Colamarino, who is No. 4 on the city’s list of “10 Most Wanted Graffiti Vandals,” turned himself in on Tuesday, according to Detective Daniel Sullivan of the Graffiti Task Force.
From March 2006 to June 2008, Mr. Colamarino sprayed his tags — AGANY and AGANY-ONE — on at least 74 spots across Pittsburgh, causing more than $50,000 in property damage. He faces two felony counts and 57 misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief for graffiti.
Detective Sullivan said police received a break in the case last year when Mr. Colamarino was spotted spraying garages in Bloomfield. Investigators then obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s home, where they found a canvas mural with “AGANY.”
Mr. Colamarino, now 24, came to police headquarters for questioning in June of last year. He then gave a full confession and apologized for the graffiti spree, Detective Sullivan said.
Police continued their investigation, using reports to the city 311 complaint line and other sources to track the extent of Mr. Colamarino’s tagging.
“He fully cooperated and showed remorse,” Detective Sullivan said. “In my opinion, he will receive some mercy from the judge assigned to the case.”
Mr. Colamarino is already serving six months of probation after pleading guilty to drug possession this year.
In March, police arrested Ian Debeer, No. 2 on the list of most wanted graffiti vandals, and accused him of causing $212,000 in damage to city and private property.
A year before, city detectives had searched his Mount Washington home and found 500 cans of costly, high-end spray-paint, 300 photographs of graffiti, and videos of Mr. Debeer leaving his mark.
Police said he continued tagging while investigators built a case against him.
The No. 1 most wanted vandal was Daniel Montano, a Highland Park graffiti writer who was sentenced last year to 21/2 to 5 years in state prison after pleading guilty to 79 counts of criminal vandalism.
Police have arrested six of the top 10 vandals. They are not releasing all names on the list because some are juveniles and other suspects are still under investigation.
The Graffiti Task Force was formed in November 2006 and has three full-time detectives. Since its inception, it has made 53 arrests and has six pending arrests, Detective Sullivan said.
[Via:www.post-gazette.com]
Thursday, June 18, 2009
