Another dumb fucking New York City pig in handcuffs!
Via: NYTimes
Archive for the ‘Who Got Bagged?’ Category
I love it when this happens to them!
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010Art Crime: Graffiti Wars – “the crackdown may only have emboldened them”
Monday, February 22nd, 2010Law enforcement agencies, judges and politicians around the country are stepping up their battle against graffiti artists. But the crackdown may only have emboldened them.
In March 2009, a man identified by Pittsburgh Police as “HERT,” the city’s second most-wanted graffiti artist, entered the Allegheny County Courthouse for an appearance stemming from a prior arrest.
But when he arrived, he was informed that police also had warrants for his arrest on 69 misdemeanors and four felony counts of criminal mischief based on estimated damages from vandalism caused by the 22-year-old’s alleged activities of spray-painting his tag on public and private buildings, railroad properties, and nearly a dozen neighborhoods in and around Pittsburgh’s downtown corridor. HERT was then handcuffed and escorted from the courtroom.
TV cameras were there to capture the moment, and Detective Daniel Sullivan of Pittsburgh Police Bureau’s Graffiti Task Force, made sure the media knew the significance of the arrest.
“He was the number-two tagger in the city, hitting more than 100 pieces of property, and that doesn’t include outside boroughs,” Sullivan told reporters, adding that HERT had caused an estimated $212,000 in damages to private and public property during his graffiti career.
The case of HERT, who is still awaiting trial, illustrates what some observers believe is an increasing crackdown on graffiti across the country. While, nationwide statistics on graffiti crime do not exist, the reallocation of police department budgets and resources suggests that cities are increasingly using prosecutions as a weapon to end the practice. For example, Graffiti Tracker, an Omaha, Nebraska-based company, which investigates graffiti crimes under contract with law enforcement agencies or sells them analysis software, is doing a thriving business. According to Timothy Kephart, Graffiti Tracker’s CEO, the company has over $1 million in contracts with police departments in 45 cities, towns and municipalities.
And more cities like Pittsburgh have created “vandal squads” dedicated to capturing high-profile graffiti artists, similar to the force New York City instituted decades ago.
But the subtext of this battle is cultural.
Utah is out of jail!
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
It’s official: Danielle Bremner aka Utah, is finally a free woman, after sitting down for a 6 month bid on Rikers followed by an additional sixer in Boston. Debt to society now served and free to admit that she is indeed the infamous daredevil that has adorned the world’s trains and walls over the last 10 years, the 27 year old student and artist is ready to take on the internetz with her new blog.
Just so you know, I am lucky enough to call her a friend and got to catch up with the very pretty, petite, and unusually chipper young lass, who was kind enough to grant an interview. That and more after the jump…
If you’ve never heard of Utah, either you know nothing about graffiti, don’t read the paper, or live in a cave in Williamsburg. Her arrests and subsequent court appearances produced numerous write-ups in the media in the last couple years – the vast majority of which have painted her and partner/boyfriend Ether as a modern day Bonnie and Clyde. But there’s more than that – Bonnie and Clyde robbed banks for riches, Utah and Ether painted cities all over the world for nothing more than the satisfaction of getting over and leaving with a nice photo of their work. Being that nowadays risk for anything but monetary reward is pretty unheard of, Utah stands to remind us that self-satifaction can still be found elsewhere, and that somethings are worth doing just to do them…(Read More)
Via: blogue.us
Utah Blog: utahoner.com
Texas Again! – Another teen gets 10 years for graffiti.
Thursday, February 4th, 2010KINGSVILLE — Teenager Manuel K. Medrazo pleaded guilty to felony spray painting of the Kleberg County Courthouse, probation office and vehicles, said District Attorney John Hubert.
Medrazo was sentenced Jan. 4 to 10 years in prison for retaliation, a third degree felony. The sentence was reduced to 10 years probation and restitution for damage he and two juveniles caused.
The charge was increased from criminal mischief to retaliation because of words sprayed Sept. 22 on vehicles that targeted probation officials at Kleberg and Kenedy counties, Hubert said.
The juveniles will faces charges in Kleberg County Court at a later date.
Vista officials declare war on graffiti writers
Thursday, December 31st, 2009Vista authorities have their own message for taggers:
“We want them to know that we’re going after them, and it’s going to cost them a lot of money — not only that but jail time,” said Elvys Cabrera, the graffiti investigator for the Vista sheriff’s station.
The arrest Monday of a 16-year-old boy who is believed to be responsible for $100,000 in damage from graffiti vandalism over the past year marks the latest of more than a dozen arrests by Vista deputies since March.
The boy has been booked into Juvenile Hall on 232 counts of felony vandalism. The Sheriff’s Department is investigating 85 other acts of vandalism that also may be connected to the teenager, Cabrera said.
The latest arrest was significant, because no one else in recent memory has come close to causing as much damage as the suspect arrested Monday, Cabrera said. Last week, deputies arrested a tagger allegedly responsible for $40,000 in damage over a two-year period.
Texas graffiti writer to serve two, not eight years – Two years is still to long for 7′Gs of damage!
Thursday, December 24th, 2009
CORPUS CHRISTI — Last week a judge gave a graffiti vandal the maximum sentence: eight years. But it turns out the most he can serve is two.
Sebastian Perez, 18, pleaded guilty Dec. 11 to three graffiti charges along with possession of marijuana, all state jail felonies.
He admitted to a spray-painting spree that lasted from March to August and caused more than $7,300 in damages.
He gave a tearful plea to 148th District Judge Marisela Saldaña for probation. Instead she had handed down the maximum two years in state jail on each count and stacked the sentences.
But Perez’s attorney, Steven Giovannini filed motions on Thursday asking the graffiti terms either be redone to run at the same time or reduced to probation.
He cited law that says if a defendant is found guilty of more than one offense arising out of the same criminal episode and prosecuted in a single action, the sentences must run concurrently. There are some exceptions, but he said none applied.
He also pointed out in another motion that judges are required to place defendants on probation for a first-time felony marijuana charge in cases where the amount is less than a pound and the defendant has no prior felony convictions. Both instances applied in Perez’s case.
Saldaña brought Perez back to court. She ordered he serve the three, two-year graffiti sentences at the same time along with two years probation on the drug charge.
District Attorney Carlos Valdez said his office had been pleased Perez received eight years, but after talking to his attorney agreed that it had to comply with the law.
Valdez added prosecutors would continue to seek the maximum sentence for graffiti vandals.
Giovannini said on Friday that Perez had shown remorse for his actions long before his guilty pleas. He said even when he visited Perez in county jail on Tuesday Perez had talked of wanting to join a graffiti cleanup crew before being transferred to state jail.
“He was really repentant and remorseful,” he said.
Via:www.caller.com
Judge Marisela Saldaña
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
This is Judge Marisela Saldaña and she giving out 8 years sentences to graffiti writers.
Graffiti writer gets eight years.
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A south Texas district judge has sentenced an 18-year-old man to eight years in prison for habitually vandalizing property with graffiti .
Sebastian Perez had pleaded guilty in a Corpus Christi state district court to three graffiti charges, as well as to marijuana possession.
Perez told the judge that spray-painting graffiti had become became a habit, but he stopped when he realized it was getting him nowhere. He cried and asked for probation, saying he would finish high school, get a job and help clean up the mess. The judge, unmoved, assessed the maximum sentence.Police say Perez spray-painted more than two dozen properties from March to August. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports that police blamed him for more than $7,300 in damage, leaving his mark on everything from fences and homes to a medical clinic and traffic signs.
via:www.bostonherald.com
Graffiti Artist Arrested At His Own Art Exhibit
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009Graffiti arti
st Jason Williams, also known as Revok, was arrested at an exhibition of his work at a Mid-City gallery and graffiti-art store Sunday, authorities announced.
The 32-year-old, described as a prolific tagger whose moniker has been spotted throughout the region, was nabbed at the 33thirdshop at 5111 West Pico Blvd. by the Special Problems Team the California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles Police Department’s graffiti team.
“A probation search of his residence was conducted and several hundred paint cans, spray tips, a fire extinguisher and other implements were found,” states a sheriff’s department release. “In addition to the above, he had a replica LAPD badge, a stolen ‘detour’ sign and digital photos of his graffiti work on his phone.”
Williams was arrested on suspicion of possessing vandalism tools, possessing a counterfeit badge and receiving stolen property. Authorities say he was on probation at the time of the arrest.
Deputies stated that Williams was the star of the Montana Paints-sponsored art show (a flier for the event actually shows Revok as one of many artists) and that he was paid $1,000 to attend. They say he makes money from t-shirt sales and prints and that he was featured in a segment on KABC7 news in recent months.
Check out some of Revok’s work here.
VIA: LAWEEKLY
2 Years in jail for graffiti.
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
A man who went on a graffiti-painting rampage in Pueblo was sentenced Thursday to two years in jail.
Jared Calderon, 18, pleaded guilty in Pueblo Municipal Court following a two-month investigation.
During a search of Calderon’s home, the Pueblo Police Department’s gang unit said it found evidence linking him to at least 20 graffiti incidents in the city.
Calderon was fined $500 for each of 20 offenses, totaling $10,000. He was ordered to serve 500 hours of community service and make a $2,000 donation to Pueblo’s graffiti-removal program. Howard Pankratz, The Denver Post