Police ID graffiti artist, decline to arrest him

Lansing,MI,USA

Associated Press

DETROIT - The graffiti painter known as the Turtle, once a target of prosecutors and police, has been identified. But he's safe from the law, at least for now.

The Turtle spray-painted images of green turtles across metropolitan Detroit on billboards, vacant buildings, expressway bridges and mailboxes. The images were signed "TURTL," "TRTL" or "TRDL."

Former Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Duggan vowed to throw him in prison. For more than a year, he remained underground.

Now, law enforcement officials have established his identity, but new Prosecutor Kym Worthy says she is focusing on Detroit's violent crime and has made graffiti a low priority. Police say they will arrest him only if they catch him in the act.

"The department knows who he is and where he lives," said Detroit police Lt. John Simon, who was on the Turtle's tail last year. "But there is no interest to do a detailed surveillance."

The Turtle, Ronald Scherz, 27, of Hamtramck, said there is no special meaning to his turtle symbol.

"This just happened. There's no politics behind it," he said.

Scherz said he has been playing with the turtle image for about six years but quit 10 months ago.