CITY OF PORTLAND’S WAR ON GRAFFITI VANDALISM NETS RESULTS
The Portland Police Bureau in cooperation with the Office of Neighborhood Involvement Graffiti Abatement Program identified and arrested 189 graffiti vandals between January 2008 and February 7, 2009.
Of the 189 vandals arrested, 90 were juveniles (between age 13 and 17), and 99 were adults (ages 18 to 40). A high percentage of juvenile arrests involved gang graffiti and more adults were arrested for what is known as “tagger” graffiti.
Penalties for adult vandals included incarceration in jail, formal and bench probation, restitution for damages, community service, restrictions on possession of graffiti implements, and drug and alcohol treatment.
Some of the adult vandals prosecuted were guilty of serious property damage over a long period of time. Among the adult vandals prosecuted listed along with their “moniker” are:
“FACE –Portland Unite”: Ryan Birkland pled guilty to one count Criminal Mischief 1 and was sentenced to 24 months bench probation, 2 days in jail, 240 hours community service, restitution to PGE in the amount of $2,154 and to the City of Portland in the amount of $7,500.
“HYRAX; “the deadly hyrax”: Jonathan Forney was sentenced to 18 months formal probation, 2 days in jail, and 10 units ACS (160 hrs community service) paid $19,000 in restitution to the City. His brother, Christopher Forney, received 18 months formal probation, 2 days in jail, and paid $3,000 for his involvement. As part of the plea agreement, Christopher Forney’s sentence was reduced to a misdemeanor if he paid restitution by a certain date.
“FEVER”: Ethan Moreschi pled guilty to 3 counts Criminal Mischief 1 and 1 count of Criminal Mischief 2. He was sentenced to 18 months formal probation, 240 hours of community service, 10 days in jail, $8,030 in restitution to the City of Portland and $616 in restitution to TriMet.
“SOIL”: Terrence Melson pled guilty to 2 counts of Criminal Mischief 1 and 2 counts of Criminal Mischief 2. He was sentenced to 24 months formal probation, 80 hours of community service, 5 days in jail, and $3,000 in restitution to the City of Portland.
“GOAM”: Daniel Zatarien pled guilty to 3 counts of Criminal Mischief 1 and was sentenced to 36 months formal probation, 10 days in jail, 96 hours community service and to pay $3,000 in restitution to the graffiti abatement program.
“Without a strong collaborative effort on the part of Multnomah County District Attorney’s office and the follow up by Officer Matt Miller and others in the police bureau, we could not have achieved these kind of results in so many cases”, says Marcia Dennis, graffiti abatement coordinator. “We hope the community will realize how much time and effort has gone towards holding people accountable for this criminal activity.”
In our continuing efforts to keep Portland a livable and safe environment for all residents, the graffiti abatement program encourages everyone to REPORT, DOCUMENT and REMOVE graffiti as soon as it appears. Call the Graffiti Hotline at 503-823-4824 or enter reports online at: www.portlandonline.com/oni
PPB Graffiti Investigator Officer Matt Miller states, “There are multiple investigations underway and many additional arrests should be expected in 2009”.