BOISE - Boise Police nabbed two men and a woman they say are responsible for a whopping 80% of graffiti in the Boise area in the past three months -- nearly 100 individual cases.

Elysse S. Taylor, 20, Lazarous James Moon, 19 and Taylor Ryan Coe, 19 are in the Ada County jail on felony charges of malicious injury to property.

Moon is also being held on a probation violation.

Police say the three are also responsible for cases in Meridian, Garden City and Eagle.




Lazarous James Moon, 19

The arrests come after four months of investigation – led by the Boise Police Department’s Neighborhood Contact Officers. A tip to Crime Stoppers started this portion of the investigation in August, according to police spokesperson Lynn Hightower.

A warrant was served in the area of Main St. and 27th St. Thursday, and netted a variety of evidence in the case - including spray paint cans, photos and notebooks detailing the graffiti. Officers also found media reports, newspapers and printed web copy that show the tagging.

Officers say residents would recognize the signatures used by the taggers - which have appeared on businesses all over town. Targeted locations include business buildings, fences, garages, parks, the I-184 Connector, and I-84.

The cost of cleanup for all the incidents is believed to be in the thousands of dollars according to police.




Taylor Ryan Coe, 19

"Graffiti is associated with crime and it degrades our neighborhoods," said Boise Mayor David Bieter in a prepared statement. "Our Neighborhood Contact Officers have worked closely with homeowners and citizens to crack down on this blight. We were recently named as one of the country's safest cities. This kind of partnership between the community and our law enforcement officers is one reason why."

Earlier this fall, city leaders, police and citizens banded together to clean up graffiti around the city during a day-long event.