Saturday, February 9, 2008

Man arrested for graffiti

Audry Olmsted El Defensor Chieftain Managing Editor

While in some areas, graffiti is considered art and, in fact, encouraged as decoration, sometimes it is just plain damaging and an eyesore.

One man was jailed early Friday morning after he was caught spray-painting graffiti on buildings on Bagley Street.

Just before 4 a.m., officer David Lynn saw a man, later identified as Julian Silva, 19, "tagging" a building on the corner of Bagley Street and U.S. 60.

Socorro Police Chief Lawrence Romero said that when Silva saw Lynn, he ran into his house, which was only a few doors down from the building he was spray-painting.

According to the complaint, no one answered the door when Lynn knocked on it. As the officer was investigating the spray-painted side of the building, he also saw that another building on the corner was also spray-painted.

In both cases, the spray-paint was still fresh, the complaint said.

Both buildings were spray-painted with various gang symbols.

Officer Chris Pino arrived and he and Lynn returned to the residence and knocked on the door. According to the complaint, Anthony Herron, 25, answered the door and said he did not know anything about the graffiti. The officers then spoke with his brother, Silva.

Initially, Silva said he also did not know about the graffiti. A check showed Herron had warrants for his arrest and the officers arrested him and took him to the Socorro County Detention Center where he was incarcerated.

Lynn later returned to the area that was spray-painted and through investigation, found a can of spray-paint. He and Pino returned to the house where Silva was and spoke with him.

Romero said Silva did admit to doing the graffiti and added that the damage amounted to more than a $1,000.

Silva is charged with one count of unauthorized graffiti, a fourth-degree felony.

At Chieftain press time, Silva was being held at the Socorro County Detention Center.

Romero said that in an effort to deter people from putting graffiti up, police officers have placed surveillance cameras in areas known to be targets of graffiti.

aolmsted@dchieftain.com

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