Accused Taggers Charged With Felony Vandalism

Three accused graffiti taggers, who were arrested in Reseda following an investigation begun by a task force of community volunteers, were charged Friday with felonies that could put them in juvenile detention for at least three years.

Two of the boys, ages 16 and 17, were each charged with one count of felony vandalism and conspiracy to commit vandalism, and two misdemeanor counts of vandalism. Another 16-year-old was charged with conspiracy to commit vandalism, a felony, and two counts of misdemeanor vandalism.

The three were arrested Thursday morning after police searched the home of one of the 16-year-olds, who used the tagger name “DEN,” with a warrant largely obtained with evidence supplied by the 2-month-old Community Tagger Task Force.

The San Fernando Valley-based task force employs about 300 citizen volunteers to document graffiti vandalism and provide police with photos and crime reports.

Police said DEN was responsible for hundreds of acts of vandalism in the Valley.

Police said they also found a videotape in the boy’s home that depicted him and the two other youths--who used the tag names “Rogue” and “Shark”--spray-painting graffiti.

Gibbons said that under sentencing guidelines the suspects could face three years in custody for the felonies and six months to a year for the misdemeanors.