>My daddy would use a belt
Posted on 07/03/2008 10:00:30 AM PDT by madprof98
Cabbagetown has had an ongoing problem with graffiti. Early Sunday morning, resident Rodney Bowman took the matter into his own hands.
Bowman perched himself in a tree to catch vandals who had been spray-painting a concrete wall that runs along a set of railroad tracks and borders his neighborhood.
Around 2:20 a.m., they showed up.
Two young men, Joshua Ward, 19 and Jesse Jaeger, 21, started spray-painting the wall when Bowman sprang from the tree and attacked Ward, according to an Atlanta police report.
"It took me a few seconds to realize what was going on," Jaeger said Wednesday. "This guy just jumps out of a tree. I was like, 'Did that just happen?' We're still telling people about it. It's one of those things that, when you tell people, they don't believe you."
Bowman, 43, walked over to Ward and punched him in the face twice before the young men ran away and called police, the report said.
When an officer arrived, Bowman told him that "he had been watching the area closely" and "jumped out of the tree" to confront the vandals, the report said.
Ward and Jaeger admitted to police that they came to the concrete wall to spray paint, but they said they thought it was legal, the report said.
Jaeger said he and Ward were under the impression the wall -- just a few blocks from the Krog Street tunnel's famed concrete canvas -- was a "free space" where graffiti is allowed.
Jaeger said that, as they starting putting graffiti on the wall, Bowman sprang from the tree that was about 20 feet from them, fell down and walked toward Ward.
"I told you about [expletive] with our wall!" Bowman said, according to the report.
An officer gave Bowman a ticket for disorderly conduct, and Ward and Jaeger were ticketed for defacing a building, the report said.
In front of police officers, Bowman asked the young men what they were doing out there so late at night, Jaeger said.
"You were in a tree at 2:30 in the morning," they replied, according to Jaeger.
Bowman could not be reached for comment.
That just shows what sort of morons frequent the AJC web site. Vandals should be used for determining the potency of old VX stocks.
These “young men” should be forced to sandpaper and scrape messages off of walls for the next six months.
The guy in the tree should get a medal from the mayor, the cop who gave him a ticket should go back to cop school.
No.
Interesting. Theoretically the could have booked him on charges of aggravated assault - they gave him the lightest they could.
If you enjoy doing graffiti, do it on the internal walls of your home.
Fellas! This story needs more Tree! [/Bruce Dickenson]
>My daddy would use a belt
Probably would have been better had Bowman video taped the miscreants instead of just punching one in the face. Then, turn over the tape to authorities. Unless of course authorities had dismissed the issue prior to this incident. In which case, a punch in the snout would be appropriate.
Young Men: Tickets and community service cleaning up
Tree Guy: Ticket, what he did was not stopping a violent crime and thus over the line. Had he restrained intsead of punching and cursing maybe it could have been called a citizens arrest.
Cop: Did the right thing..
Good for Mr Bowman
It’s hard to believe that the guys thought it was legal to vandalize and spray paint graffiti. Or maybe I’m ignorant. Are there places with a free space for anyone to spray paint graffiti?
At least he didn’t just snipe them from a hidden location and leave them for dead, so?
More to the point, if you think it’s legal why not do it at 2:30 IN THE AFTERNOON when you can better see what you are doing???
Yep they thought it was so legal that they showed up at 2:30AM to do it.
If some vandals got sniped, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
Aim for the chest, put a few balls into the 10 ring and then fade.
If these young thugs thought it was legal, why were they doing it at 2:30 in the morning?
Bowman, I wish I had the dedication that you do. WELL DONE SIR!!! If I had my way all graffitti vandals would be deported back to Mexico. Oops. I just profiled.
Sounds like the two young thugs involved here were not Hispanic, based on their surnames. I think I prefer the caning idea, administered on the spot upon apprehension.
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