Free Republic

Delbert Rodriguez Gutierrez, a street artist who goes by the name “Demz,” was in critical condition with a severe brain injury after being struck by an unmarked Miami police car during a chase in Wynwood early Friday. Rodriguez, 21, was spotted by police gang unit members as he was “tagging” a privately owned building near Northwest Fifth Avenue and 24th Street about 2 a.m., police said. When officers began chasing him, Rodriguez fled. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article4296547.html#storylink=cpy

Friends and family of a teen who died after a Miami Beach police officer shocked him with a Taser will mark the one year anniversary of his death with music, poetry and a film. Wednesday evening they gather at the abandoned restaurant where police say they caught the 18-year-old Israel “Reefa” Hernandez spraying graffiti on the walls.

Suspected tagger found dead, hanging 9 stories up on office tower A man whose body was found hanging from a downtown Sacramento building Monday, nine stories up, appears to be a tagger who was attempting the vandalize the property, authorities say. The man had used rope to tie himself in a seated position like a rappeller, authorities said. The rope was tied off with a window washing anchor, and fire officials believe that that anchor could have held his weight. But they don't think he was a window washer.

Officials at the Menil Collection don't know why a man spray-painted Pablo Picasso's "Woman in a Red Armchair" at the museum, but the act wasn't caught just on surveillance cameras. It also was captured by a bystander with a smartphone camera and subsequently posted on YouTube with a caption naming the alleged perpetrator as a young artist... The damaged artwork, with the spray paint barely dry, was rushed down the hall to the museum's conservation lab, where chief conservator Brad Epley quickly began its repair. The 1929 painting, one of nine by Picasso owned by the Menil, has "an excellent...

INDIANAPOLIS -- A "national nuisance," as police call him, was taken off the streets Thursday night with the arrest of one of the city's most prolific purveyors of graffiti. Miguel Villanueva, 23, tagged dozens of buildings in Indianapolis with his signature symbol of "choke," which is how he refers to himself. Villanueva told 6News as he was being arrested Thursday that he hit buildings not only in Indiana but in other states...

A 17-year-old boy was struck and killed by a vehicle while apparently tagging the center divider on the 60 Freeway near Hall Avenue early Saturday. Blake Locko, 17, of Riverside, was struck in the carpool lane about 2:15 a.m. and thrown across the 5-foot-high center divider into the eastbound carpool lane, where he was struck by several vehicles, according to the California Highway Patrol.... The driver who first struck Locko was not expected to be cited in the death.

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. A tagger etched the characters "B1R" with a sharp tool on 11 glass and granite surfaces at the Crystal Cathedral, causing about $30,000 in damage to the Garden Grove landmark, officials said Tuesday. Police were called to the cathedral at 12141 Lewis St. Monday to investigate defaced areas including glass walls of the original chapel and prayer room, granite areas of floors and the memorial wall, said Garden Grove police Lt. Travis Whitman. Police said the damage occurred sometime between Friday and Saturday nights, Whitman said. The damage consists of the etched characters B1R, and initial investigation...

CBS) PICO RIVERA, Calif. Authorities advised the public Tuesday not to confront taggers, in response to the fatal shooting of a Pico Rivera woman who flashed her car lights at one. "We want to be contacted as soon as possible, with any kind of information -- license plate numbers or description of the suspects," sheriff's Deputy Johnnie Jones said. "Do not put yourself at any danger or risk because some of these folks can be very dangerous." Maria Hicks, 58, flashed her vehicle lights and honked her horn at a male she saw tagging a wall at San Gabriel River...

Crime is an equal opportunity employer and now an exotic dancer is wanted for murder. The LAPD wants to know -- have you seen her? "We are speaking of a murder, somebody died," LAPD Detective Martin Mojarro says. "We believe that person and his family deserves justice." Wanted for murder by the LAPD -- Candy Ellen Srichandr. "She does have a criminal history," Mojarro says. Detectives believe this 29-year-old woman is part of an infamous and violent tagging crew. So-called taggers are graffiti vandals that spray paint their signature scrawl all over Southland buildings, billboards and overpasses, defacing public property...

On Avalon Street in a neighborhood here, Victoria Villicano was known as a devoted mother who was often seen behind the wheel of her sport utility vehicle, driving her two teenage sons to stores and sporting events. But Los Angeles Police Department detectives claim the 42-year-old also drove a five-member tagging crew, including her two children, around several L.A. neighborhoods, stopping long enough for the group to jump out and vandalize. Authorities said they believe the crew is responsible for spray-painting about 100 sites along Sunset Boulevard, causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage. Their alleged reign came to...

OK. I rarely do vanities. But somebody gave me the link to this website (stillfree.com) and a video on it that I can't believe. It's a video of some guy named Mark Ecko--apparently some kind of New York graffiti artist/clothing designer/game geek/entrepeneur/slacker--"tagging" one of the Presidential aircraft at Andrews AFB with graffiti. That's right. He actually gets close enough to the plane--a converted 747 that may or may not be one of the two used as Presidental transports, I really can't tell--to spraypaint "STILLFREE" on the #2 engine nacelle. So I guess Abdul and Mahmoud know what to do now....