Downtown officer highlights graffiti case

Elizabeth Brewer, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·2 min read
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May 17—TRAVERSE CITY — A teenage graffiti artist is being charged with causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage to businesses in downtown Traverse City.

Traverse City Police say a 16-year-old boy from Leroy drove to Traverse City and spray-painted various businesses periodically from January 2023 through January 2024, when he was caught by the downtown community police officer.

The teen has since been charged with multiple felony counts of malicious destruction of property, and court hearings are ongoing.

In total, the graffiti affected 20 businesses and caused more than $60,000 in damages, Lt. Ryan Taylor said.

Those numbers were cited by Jonathan Culver, the community police officer for downtown, during Friday's Downtown Development Authority meeting.

Culver, whose position is funded through the DDA, mentioned these acts of malicious destruction of property as part of their ongoing crime prevention and community policing efforts in the business district.

One of the first investigative clues the graffiti artist left behind was his tag, which was a combination of a "B" or "4" or "Four." A tag is the artist's signature below their work. Often, it's a pseudonym or drawing.

Those repeated symbols are how officers first suspected that it was the same person vandalizing multiple downtown properties.

Utilizing investigative techniques, Culver said, he found the teenager on Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. on Union Street near State Street with fresh paint on a clear latex glove on one hand, and spray paint odor emerging from a backpack he was wearing.

Moments before, police reports said, Culver had walked through the underpass by Grandview Parkway where he smelled the fresh spray paint.

A warrant authorizing a search that was conducted a few days later found four used spray paint cans and some unused clear latex gloves in the teenager's backpack, according to police reports.

Since the suspect is a juvenile, Taylor said they did not take him into custody, but instead called his mother who picked him up at the scene on the night of Jan. 2.

Taylor confirmed that the teenager worked alone during his graffiti sprees.

Since he is still under 18, his case is with Judge Jennifer Whitten in the probate court in Traverse City.

All juvenile case files in Michigan are sealed from the public.

The teen is not currently in juvenile custody or a detention center, according to law enforcement officers.