Lakewood Police Catch 2 Gang Graffiti Artists

[Bill Grulich]

This morning around 5 A.M, two adult males were caught writing gang graffiti on various building along Detroit and Madison Avenues. These “want to be artistsâ€Â￾ had tagged at least 14 buildings and trucks throughout Lakewood. It appears that suspects were not Lakewood residents

According to Lakewood Police Lieutenant Sprague, “These look like the Anarchy symbols that have been seen on Lakewood buildings over the past year.â€Â￾ He was unable to release the suspects’ names, since they had not yet been processed for their alleged crimes. Sprague also stated the police department should be sending a press release soon.

One building tagged that was the First Federal Savings and Loan at the corner of Cook and Detroit Avenues. The building’s owner had tried to wash off the paint, but was unsuccessful. The suspects “artworkâ€Â￾ was also on the northeast corner building at Marlowe and Detroit Avenues.

These suspects were caught with the help of citizens who had seen them painting the building at Marlowe and Detroit Avenue. They were apprehended at Orchard Grove and Madison Avenue.

Bill Grulich

[Bill Call]

One building tagged that was the First Federal Savings and Loan at the corner of Cook and Detroit Avenues. The building’s owner had tried to wash off the paint, but was unsuccessful.

Elephant snot.

http://www.graffitisolutions.tv/graffit ... t_snot.htm

[Jeff Endress]

Bill

Indeed! We did a fairly intensive testing of various graffitti removal techniques for the library when the tagging began. This product will do the job.

Jeff

[Grace O'Malley]

The anarchy symbol is NOT a gang symbol.

While this IS vandalism, it is important to differentiate the two types of activities, otherwise it gives the appearance that there is gang activity when, in this case, it is not.

[Danielle Masters]

Way to go Lakewood Police and observant citizens. I don't care if they were painting fluffy bunnies, graffiti is an eyesore. It's expensive and a pain for businesses and municipalities to remove. I'm glad they caught these vandals.

[Justine Cooper]

So were they juveniles or adults and since they most likely won't get jail time, will they be cleaning up Lakewood for the next year? I wish there could be stiffer laws for criminals coming into Lakewood and destroying the city that so many work so hard to keep clean. I still say cameras would help catch more. Did you see the metroparks camera caught a policeman in Berea doing unlawful things?

[Dee Krupp]

Way to go Lakewood Police and observant citizens. I don't care if they were painting fluffy bunnies, graffiti is an eyesore. It's expensive and a pain for businesses and municipalities to remove. I'm glad they caught these vandals.

I'm on the fence with the fluffy bunnies but I agree ....YAY for catching the wanna be artists.

[Shawn Juris]

Just saw the mark on the FFL building. Glad they were caught.
I say let the punishment fit the crime. If they want to paint the town let them pay for the materials and spend their time freshening up Lakewood storefronts per the owner's specifications. They can do this after they clean up their own mess.
Does it make people feel different about situations like this when the culprits don't live in Lakewood? I'm glad that they were caught but unless we're going to start checking ids at the entry points to the city, I'm not sure what the difference is if they live here or not.

[Bill Grulich]

Grace,

I would respectfully disagree with you. If you would like, call them a group. Anarchists and have been have with us since the 19th century. While they are not like the Crips or Bloods, this "vandalism" is their attack on our lifestyle and our city.

In our country and around the world, these groups have become more aggressive in their actions. This graffiti is not dissimilar to militant actions by the Neo Nazis, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) fringe groups within PETA, America's Invisible Empire, a Klan group, American Coalition of Life Activists an anti-abortion group, God Hates Fags an anti-gay group...

Call it a group or call it a gang. To borrow from the Book of Mathew in the Bible, "Where two or more are gathered"...

This isn’t the A with a star. These aren’t kids. They’re not local.

Bill Grulich

[Jeff Endress]

I'm glad that they were caught but unless we're going to start checking ids at the entry points to the city, I'm not sure what the difference is if they live here or not

Shawn:

1) I'm all over the idea of setting up check points at the borders!

2) I think it makes a huge difference if the vandals are out of town.....not with regard to the damage done, that is a reality no matter where the vandal lives. But, "outsiders" are invading our town to commit criminal activity is demonstrates that the problem is one that is "imported" and not local. You can deal with a local problem by addressing issues of civic pride, etc. in addition to strong law enforcement efforts. You'll never instill a sense of Lakewood civic pride in an out of town punk.

Jeff

[Ivor Karabatkovic]

Shawn,

When there's a bus-hopper involved, I know that the problem isn't breeding here in Lakewood. That's the point. The problem doesn't come from inside our borders.

It's like the Avon resident who has money and goes to East Cleveland to buy expensive designer drugs and gets killed after he forks over $1000 cash.

While yes, the drug trafficking is still in Cleveland (in the scenario above) you realize that the drug demand isn't in the city. Therefore drugs don't stay in the city.

I don't know about the Police in general but my guess is that they don't care what happens in neighboring cities until it becomes part of their problem. That's what I've observed from talking to CPD on a daily basis.

[J Hrlec]

I guess this is another example of how taking simple action, such as making a call to police, can stop crime from happening. Glad the perps were caught.

[Bill Grulich]

Justine,

So were they juveniles or adults...

I believe that they were 21 years old. We'll have to wait for confirmation from the police department.

I wish there could be stiffer laws for criminals coming into Lakewood...

Here is the Codified Ordinance From the City of Lakewood's Web Site:

541.04 CRIMINAL MISCHIEF.

(a) No person shall:

(1) Without privilege to do so, knowingly move, deface, damage, destroy or otherwise improperly tamper with the property of another;

(2) With purpose to interfere with the use or enjoyment of property of another, employ a tear gas device, stink bomb, smoke generator or other device releasing a substance which is harmful or offensive to persons exposed, or which tends to cause public alarm;

(3) Without privilege to do so, knowingly move, deface, damage, destroy or otherwise improperly tamper with a bench mark, triangulation station, boundary marker or other survey station, monument or marker;

(4) Without privilege to do so, knowingly move, deface, damage, destroy or otherwise improperly tamper with any safety device, the property of another, or the property of the offender when required or placed for the safety of others, so as to destroy or diminish its effectiveness or availability for its intended purpose;

(5) With purpose to interfere with the use or enjoyment of the property of another, set a fire on the land of another or place personal property that has been set on fire on the land of another, which fire or personal property is outside and apart from any building, other structure or personal property that is on that land.


Now that the election is over, we should contact our council members about rewriting this ordinance or creating an anti-graffiti ordinance.

Bill Grulich

[Shawn Juris]

So long as the purpose of noting that the culprits were from outside of the city is to understand and address the issue better then it makes sense. I just wonder if stating this is more to somehow excuse or minimize it in some way. It's tough to say with any certainty what the intention was.

Certainly, it seems to make perfect sense to strenthen our penalties for crimes committed that are effecting the city. Had it already been discussed if there were limits determined by the state that need to be followed or can these be set at the discretion of city council?

[Steve Hoffert]

Grace,

...

Call it a group or call it a gang. To borrow from the Book of Mathew in the Bible, "Where two or more are gathered"...

This isn’t the A with a star. These aren’t kids. They’re not local.

Bill Grulich

So are you saying that Jesus was one of the perps? You know he was an anarchist.

http://www.anti-state.com/redford/redford4.html