S.F. cops say they caught prolific tagger 'Cryst’ admiring his own work

[yuiyoshida]

By Kurtis Alexander
Published 6:24 pm, Friday, March 13, 2015

An 18-year-old San Francisco man was arrested Thursday for allegedly painting his “Cryst” signature in many parts of the city.

One of San Francisco’s most prolific graffiti vandals was arrested Thursday while taking admiring photos of his work in Dolores Park, authorities said.

For months, police have been trying to track down the tagger, now alleged to be San Francisco resident Andrew Yarbrough, 18, who has painted his hallmark “Cryst” signature and other etchings from the Mission District to Treasure Island.


“This guy has tagged businesses, people’s homes, public property, Muni stuff, a lot of city property,” said police Capt. Dan Perea. “There are thousands and thousands of dollars worth of damage done by this one person … We’re very happy that we grabbed this guy.”

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/S-F-cops-say-they-caught-prolific-tagger-6133394.php

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. There's street art.... and then there's simply spraying things with a can of paint.

That photo above seems to suggest he's not an artist, just somebody who buys cans of spray paint. So good for them.

Let the folks who actually do decent art stay on the loose, and get the people who just 'tag'.

[Throd]

2. Just like a dog pissing on everything.

[Auggie]

3. I'm at least glad he's 18 and can be charged as an adult.

According to California vandalism law:

If the damage is worth four hundred dollars ($400) or more, vandalism is a wobbler in California law. The penalties for vandalism in this case may include a jail sentence of between one (1) and three (3) years--and/or a fine of up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or even more if the damage is very extensive.

In fact, in the summer of 2014, the Los Angeles County sheriff's department was even recommending that the pop star Justin Bieber be charged with California felony vandalism--just for tossing a few eggs at his neighbor's house!

If the damage is worth less than four hundred dollars ($400), vandalism is still punishable by misdemeanor penalties of up to one (1) year in county jail, and/or a maximum one thousand dollar ($1,000) fine.

http://www.shouselaw.com/vandalism.html

In San Francisco I believe there's been recent legislaion passed that allows property owners to recoup the cost of graffiti clean-up through civil action. But really ... how much restitution can an 18-year-old provide?

http://www.sfexaminer.com/PoliticsBlog/archives/2014/03/18/sf-takes-aim-at-graffiti-vandals-tries-to-lessen-burden-on-victims

I'll bet this punk gets off with a wrist-slap.