Graffiti party held to protest arrest of two men

By LORY POUNDER
Staff Writer

Loose Screws held a graffiti party Friday to protest the recent arrests of two men charged with criminal mischief.

Sumner Gray, 29, co-owner of the store, said he felt customers were profiled and harassed by police investigating this vandalism case.

"We're not going to sit back and be scared to walk the streets," Gray said.

Numerous people were stopped and searched, Gray said. Police took photographs of their homes, he added.

"People are just sick of it," Gray said.

Gray was one of the people questioned. He said he still felt he was being viciously targeted although he cooperated with the detectives.

Detectives stopped him on the street, in his business and came to his home.

He said investigators threatened to take pictures of his customers if he did not give them information.

Needless taxpayer money was spent for such a "minor, minor, minor thing as graffiti," Gray said. He added that he is not advocating vandalism.

After Matt Bishop, 19, and Chris Greer, 20, were arrested Wednesday, those who felt they had been harassed during the investigation organized Friday's protest.

"It just seemed like they arrested two kids trying to get to the third," Gray said.

Detective Len Troscher said Thursday that the police are actively looking for a third suspect who they think is responsible for 90 percent of the vandalism.

Gray said, "I'm sure he's shopped at Wal-Mart. Why don't they go harass the people there?"

The St. Augustine Police Department began the investigation after several businesses downtown and on Anastasia Island had slogans spray-painted on them since Dec. 27.

"If someone has been victimized, the Police Department will respond as they always have," said Commander Steve Fricke. He added that the group is entitled to their opinion.

Bishop and Greer were released from the county jail the same day they were arrested. They participated in spray painting boards in front of Loose Screws on Friday night.

Greer said of the investigator, Troscher, "We kind of wasted his time, so he wasted ours."

Greer said detectives continually stopped him on the street, singling him out because of his style and because he hangs out downtown.

He said a group of about 50 close friends were the focus of the police investigation. It is a group of "peace promoters" who are "living lives instead of being "programmed to live lives," Greer said.