Graffiti spree hits Ontario

By Andy Gates | Argus Observer
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 1:13 PM PDT

ONTARIO - Just weeks after Ontario police received more than 20 reports of graffiti blamed on criminal youth gangs, investigations began for an additional 14 cases in town that apparently occurred sometime Friday night.

Three male juveniles from Ontario are probably responsible for graffiti applied Friday, Ontario Police Chief Mike Kee said Monday. The graffiti was splashed on buildings at May Roberts Elementary School, Ontario Middle School, Beck-Kiwanis Park, Fairview Apartments, Malheur County Fairgrounds, and several private residences and vehicles throughout town, Kee said.

The graffiti at the schools had apparently been painted over Monday.

The exact time the graffiti was applied has not been pinned down by police, Kee said; however, individuals who were allegedly responsible face felony charges of criminal mischief, and cases will be referred to the Malheur County Juvenile Department.

The accused graffiti vandals, aged 17, 16 and 14, left paint references to an area criminal syndicate with the words, 󈫽th Street,” Kee said.

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Police detained the 14-year-old and the 16-year-old, and then released them back to responsible parties during the weekend, Kee said however, the 17-year-old had not been located as of Monday afternoon.

The 16-year-old gave officers consent to search his room, Kee said, and newspaper clippings from the Argus Observer depicting area graffiti cases were found and taken as evidence, Kee said.

“He (the 16-year-old) said he liked the articles about graffiti and cut them out,” Kee said.

Five cases of gang-related graffiti were reported March 29 on private property in Nyssa.

Kee conceded Monday graffiti cases are news worthy.

Graffiti, he said, is “something people should know about.”

However, Kee said that he has disagreed with the newspaper's policy on printing photos of the graffiti crimes.

“I've been against the pictures,” he said.

Ontario's graffiti binge Friday came just as the community unwound from a recent chain of similar crimes in mid-March, where police took reports of 28 cases throughout town.

Ontario police arrested a 17-year-old March 16 in connection to those earlier cases, and police have also said a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old may have been involved in the incidents.

The more recent cases, though, did not likely involve the juveniles implicated in the mid-March graffiti spurt, Kee said.

Kee said the 14-year-old allegedly involved in Friday's spree had recently been sent a letter that designated him as a criminal gang member.

He contested the allegation, though, and Kee determined there was not enough information for the designation to stick so it was discarded in early March.

The juvenile will likely be served with another letter, Kee said.

Kee said an officer on his force was crucial in the investigation into Friday's graffiti.

That officer had recently been investigating only criminal gangs, and suspects were developed in the recent graffiti case through intelligence gathered in those probes, Kee said.

“As a result of examining this graffiti, he knew where to go and who to talk to and developed suspects just from examining graffiti,” Kee said. “That's the value of having someone doing this all the time.”

However, that officer was taken off the gang beat, Kee said, because of manpower and “myriad issues.”

In other police news:

- The Payette County Sheriff's Office student resource officer will conduct follow-up investigations today at New Plymouth High School, PCSO Sheriff Chad Huff said Monday.

The reason is because police received a call Monday afternoon regarding a suspicious person near the high school, who was determined to be a 16-year-old male who is not allowed on the school's property, Huff said.

The juvenile claimed to have been delivering Argus Observer newspapers, Huff said, and deputies informed him not to return to the school.

According to the Argus Observer Circulation Department, there are two contracted youth carriers who deliver newspapers in the New Plymouth area; however, each delivery person can bring friends with them while they're on the job, so long as they are not breaking the law.

- Oregon State Police arrested a Gresham-area man Monday around 5:30 a.m. after he was allegedly involved in crash along Interstate 84, near Baker City, which resulted in a police struggle and superficial injuries, according to a press release from OSP.

State police were not on duty at the time of the vehicle crash, according to the release, so two officers were called out.

Jason Kay Sowers, 28, acted strangely and refused to be removed by police from his pickup truck. He and the two officers were taken to a Baker City hospital with superficial injuries, and they were treated and released, the release said.

Sowers was lodged in the Baker County Jail for DUII, resisting arrest, assaulting a public safety officer and second degree criminal mischief, according to the release.

- Malheur County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested Kristal Zambrano, 20, Nyssa, at a residence situated along the 1300 block of Thunderegg Boulevard in Nyssa Friday around 12:28 p.m. on probation violation warrant following a dispute at the home, Malheur County Undersheriff Brian Wolfe said.

- Law enforcement officers from the Malheur County Sheriff's Office and the Ontario Police Department arrested Christopher Glenn, 29, Ontario, Friday around 6:50 p.m. following a short foot chase, on charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, fraudulent use of a credit card and third degree theft, Wolfe said.

Glenn allegedly took the vehicle and a credit card from a family member without permission, Wolfe said, and Ontario police located the stolen vehicle and pursued Glenn until he was arrested and brought to the Malheur County Jail.