Prolific graffiti tagger arrested

With the arrest of a 21-year-old man, Omaha police say they have caught the city's most prolific graffiti tagger.

The suspect was arrested with two other men Thursday while spraying graffiti on BNSF Railway railcars near First and Hascall Streets, police said.

The other men arrested were 22 years old. All three appeared in court Friday, and all declined interview requests.

The man authorities identified as the prolific tagger was charged with two counts of felony criminal mischief and held on $25,000 bail. He posted 10 percent, $2,500, and was released on Friday.

A second man was charged with felony criminal mischief and was held on $25,000 bail. The third was charged with being an accessory to a felony and was held on $25,000 bail.

The World-Herald has decided not to publish their names because police say the men are seeking notoriety.

Prosecutors said one of the three men served as the team's lookout and driver while the others tagged the railroad cars. The cost to repaint each railcar is about $4,500, police said.

Lt. Kerry Neumann of the Police Department's gang unit said investigators believe what the three men were doing differs from gang graffiti.

“They are organized to an extent where they claim a tagging crew,” Neumann said. “They are not gang members.”

Gang members, he said, commit crimes, especially violent crimes, to further the name and prestige of their gang — or to mark their territory.

In instances like that involving the three men arrested this week, Neumann said, taggers are looking more for publicity, name recognition.

“Taggers, or tag artists, can be anything from nuisance stuff to graphic, nice looking artwork,” he said. “At least in (this) case, he can do the graphic artwork as well as just throw his name on buildings.”

Neumann said police think that the prolific tagger's work could be seen from the Missouri River to 120th and Pacific Streets and that he has been active for the last few years.

Police track each instance of graffiti with photos sent to a company called Graffiti Tracker Inc., which tracks and analyzes the images.

Neumann said police think the tagger is responsible for more than 50 graffiti incidents. The city's next most prolific tagger, they say, is responsible for 24.

Police served a search warrant at the alleged tagger's home Friday and found evidence connecting him to graffiti incidents but would not elaborate.

The taggings, whether on abandoned doorways or plastered on the sides of buildings, contained his name and some initials for sayings the trio shared. It was unclear what some stood for.

But not all their handiwork was illegal. Neumann said the prolific tagger and others were once commissioned to create a mural to keep gang graffiti off of a building near downtown.

An employee there said he remembered a number of young men this summer spraying the building. All wore handkerchiefs to cover their faces.

And they remain anonymous.

Contact the writer:

444-1279, jason.kuiper@owh.com

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