Shepard Fairey surrenders to Detroit police

Shepard Fairey has turned himself in to Detroit authorities on felony charges of malicious destruction of property, a spokeswoman for local police said. The Los Angeles street artist was taken into custody and was arraigned Tuesday, then was released on bond.

Fairey’s next court appearance is scheduled for July 21, police said. A spokesman for the artist confirmed that the artist traveled from L.A. to Detroit this week to surrender to authorities.

Fairey’s bond was set at $75,000 with a surety of 10%, according to the Detroit police. He entered a plea of not guilty.

An arrest warrant had been issued for Fairey last month in Detroit on allegations that he had put up posters on private and government property, causing damage. At the time, the police said that he faced a maximum of five years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.

Last week the artist was arrested by Los Angeles Airport Police after screeners at LAX noticed the outstanding warrant for his arrest.

Fairey was booked on a felony fugitive warrant by Los Angeles police, but Detroit police declined to extradite him at that time.

Like many street artists, Fairey has had run-ins with the law throughout his career. He was arrested in 2009 on charges related to illegal tagging around the time of his exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston.

Fairey gained international renown for his “Hope” poster of Barack Obama. But the poster became the center of a legal battle with the Associated Press, which claimed that the street artist improperly used one of its photos for the art work.

In 2012, Fairey received a sentence of probation and a fine in a criminal case after admitting that he had destroyed documents and submitted false images as part of his fight with the AP.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT