Graffiti’s ‘Chaka’ Told to Clean Up : Courts: Prolific tagger is sentenced to community service as part of three years’ probation.

It’s back to the streets for a prolific Boyle Heights graffiti tagger who spray-painted the moniker “Chaka” more than 10,000 times on everything from concrete curbs to railroad boxcars.

But this time, Daniel Bernardo Ramos, 18, will have to clean up his mess and that of other graffiti vandals. That was the order of Los Angeles Municipal Court Commissioner Robert Sandoval on Wednesday in sentencing the teen-ager. Ramos had pleaded guilty to 10 counts of vandalism.

Ramos was ordered to serve three years’ probation, undergo two years of psychological counseling, spend 1,560 hours cleaning up graffiti and pay restitution to be determined next year.

In his unprecedented graffiti spree, Ramos splashed his placa, or signature, on an estimated $500,000 in property from Orange County to San Francisco, authorities said.

“This probation is to attempt to make restitution for the damages that you’ve done here in the city of Los Angeles due to your childish conduct,” said Sandoval, who also ordered Ramos to get a high school equivalency diploma and stay away from spray paint cans and wide-tipped markers.

“If I find you have violated any of the terms of this probation, I will not have any problem putting you back in jail,” Sandoval said.

Ramos, who has served five months in jail since he was arrested Nov. 28 for writing “Chaka” on a traffic light in Lincoln Heights, was released from custody Wednesday evening. “This is the first time he has seen how serious this community is taking his vandalism,” Deputy City Atty. Peter Shutan said of Ramos.

“The message for the kids out there that are doing (graffiti) is that he did do five months in County Jail,” Shutan said. “He is going to be required over the next two years to do a minimum 65 hours a month of graffiti cleanup, and some of that cleanup will focus on the graffiti he put up.”

Exact terms of the graffiti cleanup will be determined by Ramos’ probation officer, Shutan said.

Ramos, who lives in the Aliso Village housing project east of downtown, has been approached with commercial ventures based on his life story, according to his attorney, Lloyd Handler.

“He has gained a certain amount of status and self-esteem from being involved in this,” Handler said. “There may be a civil attorney lined up to represent him in commercial interests.”

At least one Los Angeles art gallery director has expressed an interest in Ramos’ “art.”

“I’m always looking for talent,” said Douglas Chrismas, director of the ACE Gallery. “I’m interested in talking to him.”

Mindful of the inevitability of such offers, Sandoval ordered Ramos to return to court on May 1, 1992, to determine whether he can afford to make restitution.

“We have heard and believe . . . he may be making significant amounts of money in the coming year,” Shutan said. “We wanted our victims to have an opportunity to be repaid for some of the damages.”