Criminal damage getting ‘out of hand’ By MIRSADA BURIC-ADAM The Daily Courier

PRESCOTT – The Graffiti Busters volunteers applied paint-stripper to an old tagging on a Prescott apartment building. A few moments later, as the chemical ate into the paint, another volunteer, Richard Plunkett, used a power-washer to remove the vulgar writing. The three busters repeated the process twice before their efforts satisfied them.  Richard Plunkett of Graffiti Busters – associated with the Tri-City Gang Prevention Task Force – uses a high-pressure washer to remove paint from the side of a Prescott apartment building Thursday. The Graffiti Busters are all volunteers and area businesses donate equipment for their work. Plunkett said he would later apply a biodegradable chemical that will, with the help of the elements, fade out the scribbling entirely. “Our ultimate goal is to return the site to its original appearance,” he said. This past weekend, the Graffiti Busters, which operates under the Tri-City Gang Prevention Task Force, were especially busy. At least 30 new graffiti sites had cropped up around Prescott. The Prescott Police Department on Sunday arrested three Prescott-area residents in connection with some of those incidents. “Two were caught in the act and the other one through the investigation,” PPD Sgt. Mike Kabbel said. According to a police report, officers arrested Jed Travis Sinclair, 21, and Matthew W. Payne, 21, as they allegedly were painting graffiti at the Ponderosa Plaza mall in the 1300 block of Iron Springs Road. Both suspects face felony criminal damage charges. The two arrests reportedly led to the arrest of a third suspect, 22-year-old Colin Masterson, who is also facing a felony criminal damage charge. Prescott police believe these three suspects are responsible for about 180 cases of criminal damage, mainly graffiti, that appeared in Prescott between September 2002 and May 2003. Police estimate that damage to property exceeds $10,000. “It has been so out of hand,” Kabbel said, adding that police don’t believe the three suspects are gang members. Det. Mark McClain said they have a pretty good case against the three suspects. He also said there is no indication that more suspects were involved in this particular case. Meanwhile, the Graffiti Busters volunteers worked hard to remove all of the “street art” that cropped up around Prescott over the weekend. Bill Landis said that he and Don Hornby spent four hours Tuesday removing graffiti from various locations on Granite, McCormick, Goodwin, Gurley and Willis streets. Landis said he decided to join the group because “street art” bothers him personally. “We do not want it here,” he said. Plunkett said gangs often use street art to mark their territory or to communicate. It varies in size and location, he said. “Sometimes they do it in high-profile places … and this one is hardly noticed,” he said, pointing to the scribbling on a fire hydrant. “Street artists, which I call street vandals, put their art out there for everyone to see.” According to the police report, Sinclair told an officer that he took a lot of art classes in school “but that he doesn’t have the money to do nothing but draw. I hate it that I have to run around doing it like this.” The Graffiti Busters do not believe that street writing, drawing, or painting is art at all. They express that belief in one of the signs on their van window: “The difference between graffiti and art is permission.” About six years ago, Plunkett said, his team put in 800 hours removing old and new graffiti around the town. In 2001, volunteers spent 127 hours removing street art, which translated into $3,800 of labor costs and about $5,050 in materials to repair the damage. To remove a single tagging can cost as much as $480, he said. “We like to respond within 24 hours of notification,” Plunkett said, adding that donations from the community are always welcome. People can earmark their checks to the Tri-City Gang Prevention Task Force and mail them to P.O. Box 4072, Prescott, AZ 86302.