Tagger ‘Chaka’ Agrees to Clean Up Graffiti

The state’s most prolific tagger--a young man suspected of spray-painting the name Chaka at 10,000 locations stretching from Orange County to San Francisco--pleaded no contest Tuesday to 10 counts of vandalism and agreed to spend more than 1,500 hours cleaning up graffiti throughout Los Angeles County.

Daniel Ramos, 18, of Boyle Heights is believed by authorities to have defaced more than $500,000 in property ranging from lampposts and traffic signs to freeway supports and railroad boxcars during an unprecedented graffiti campaign.

In a plea-bargain with the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, Ramos agreed to spend 1,560 hours erasing graffiti throughout Los Angeles County, and “not to own or possess any spray-paint cans or wide-tip markers,” according to a draft of the agreement filed in Municipal Court.

Ramos, who was initially charged with 48 counts of vandalism and trespassing, could also face up to five years in jail and a $10,000 fine when he is sentenced May 1.

“We want a combination of significant jail time and significant graffiti cleanup,” said Deputy City Atty. Peter Shutan.

“I hope other kids will see that society means business when it comes to vandalism,” Shutan said. “I’ll be the first to tell you a lot of these kids have talent, but that talent is irrelevant when their work is on someone else’s property.”

Ramos’ attorney, Lloyd Handler, said it will not be determined until sentencing whether Ramos should be forced to clean up only his own markings.

“There is some feeling he should go out and do primarily Chakas,” Handler said. “From a societal standpoint, there might be more gained for him doing whatever is out there.”

Ramos, a small, stocky young man, appeared calm and confident as he stood before Municipal Court Commissioner Robert J. Sandoval on Tuesday. The defendant looked squarely at Sandoval and said “no contest” to each of the misdemeanor counts.

Police contend that Ramos, whose activities were not gang-motivated, stole spray paint from automobile supply stores and worked mostly at night.

Ramos, whose juvenile record includes 10 arrests for vandalism and theft, was under 18 when he was arrested by RTD authorities March 8, 1990, and charged with 88 counts of vandalism. He was convicted of the charges in April and placed on probation.

Although still on probation, Ramos’ nightly forays against concrete curbs, walls and storefront windows continued for another nine months, police said.

The Southern Pacific transportation yard in Glassell Park was hit hard. Railroad officials estimate that Ramos caused about $30,000 worth of property damage in and around the yard.

“Ramos concentrated a lot of effort on vandalizing railway cars,” City Atty. James K. Hahn said, “apparently because they are mobile and carried his tag throughout the Southern Pacific network.”

Hahn called the volume of Chaka graffiti staggering. “The extent of the property damage made this the worst case of graffiti vandalism we have seen in Los Angeles, or heard of anywhere else in the nation,” he said.

Ramos’ career as a tagger ended the morning of Nov. 28--after he had passed his 18th birthday and became an adult under the law--when Los Angeles police officers caught him writing Chaka with a marking pen on a traffic light standard in Lincoln Heights.

When police handcuffed him, they said, Ramos yelled: “I am the famous Chaka!”

A month later, the once brazen tagger was ruled “a danger to himself” by a court commissioner and transferred from County Jail to Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk.

Hospital officials refused to release information about Ramos, citing confidentiality. Friends said he spent most of his time at the hospital, and later in County Jail, listening to the radio, reading and studying art.

“He gained a lot of weight,” said Raul Gamboa, 24, a self-described close friend of Ramos, who attended Tuesday’s hearing. “He was real skinny when he went in.”

Handler acknowledged that his client, who remains jailed in lieu of $10,000 bail, was initially anything but remorseful.

“Until he talked with detectives, he was not cognizant of how society viewed his acts,” Handler said. “He felt he was perceived as a hero in the minds of gang members.”

Now, “He is going to take responsibility for what he did,” the lawyer said.

Gamboa said Ramos is only one of several graffiti artists who have splashed the moniker Chaka on Los Angeles buildings and walls in recent years.

“When he got caught, he took credit for all of it thinking that, as a minor, he would only get a slap on the wrist,” Gamboa said.

“But when the police checked out what he wrote and saw the word Chaka, they freaked out and thought they had the king of graffiti,” Gamboa said. “Daniel, being young and inexperienced, accepted the blame. You don’t snitch on friends.”

Nonetheless, Ramos is eager to start a new life, according to Gamboa, who visited his friend a week ago.

“For him, Chaka is over,” Gamboa said. “He says he just wants to disappear from the scene for a while . . . and get into something more positive.”