Teenager arrested in connection with Lansing graffiti
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Monday, November 13, 2006 12:04 PM CST

LANSING | Charges are pending against a Lynwood teenager who was arrested Friday in connection with a rash of graffiti spray-painted on a half-dozen homes, a school, a park, a sidewalk and a piece of railroad equipment in Lansing.

The 15-year-year-old, who hoped to start a "tagging club," admitted to the vandalism in the neighborhood adjacent to Kiwanis Park, which is west of Bock Road on 183rd Street, Lansing Police Det. Russ Oberman said.

The teenager was at the police station Friday to meet with police about an unrelated incident in which he was the victim. When confronted about the incidents, the student admitted to the vandalism, Oberman said.

Charges against the teenager are pending, Oberman said. A likely route will be restitution to the home owners for the cost of clean-up and/or replacement. The teenager would be responsible for cleanup on some of the public property.

Last Wednesday, a Lansing resident found the length of the fence covered in graffiti with two sets of letters that alternated between the fence's panels.

The same sort of graffiti was painted on a realty sign, a street sign and the side of a garage at a residence on 183rd Street.

At Oak Glen Elementary School, north of the park, a caricature of what looked like a ghost was spray-painted on an exterior wall.

Police also found spray paint cans along a sidewalk between two houses that lead into the park from 183rd Place. A set of letters was found on the sidewalk, and another on a fence along the sidewalk.

A Canadian National Railroad switchbox west of Illiana Christian High School on Ridge Road also was tagged with the same letters. At Kiwanis Park, a swingless swing set, playground climbing equipment and slides were covered with the same letters in red, black and blue spray paint.