By Seth Daniel
Everett Chief of Police Steven A. Mazzie announced the arrest of three local men charged with spray painting graffiti on various locations on Broadway.
The arrest culminates a recent effort to catch and stop graffiti vandals from littering the City with their ‘tags’ and other materials. That effort began last week when – only days after the citywide cleanup on the Northern Strand Trail – someone littered several spots with new graffiti – graffiti that had been covered up by community volunteers.
With City and Police officials hyper-vigilant towards the matter, on Monday May 8, at 1:10 a.m. Everett Patrol Officers John Fitzpatrick and Paul Dusablon were dispatched to the area of the Parlin School for a report of three males spray painting a building.
A description of the suspects was broadcast to the responding officers. An off duty Patrol Officer Jeffrey McCabe was travelling in his personal vehicle and his attention was drawn to the actions of the three men. The suspects had spray painted 3 businesses on Broadway. All suspects were subsequently detained and identified and had cans of spray paint on their persons as well as paint on their hands.
Chief Mazzie stated: “The Everett Police Department takes these acts of destructive behavior that are perpetrated against business, home and city properties seriously. We encourage all residents to report acts of vandalism such as this so that we may investigate and hold those responsible accountable.”
Arrested without incident were Ryan Downs, 23 of Everett; Nephtali Nunez, 23, of Malden and Jerry Garcia, 21, of Malden. Each of the suspects was charged with three counts of Tagging.
The suspects were arraigned in Malden District Court on Monday May 8.
In response to graffiti on the Trail, particularly on a red barn by Tileston Street, City officials have also reacted.
On Tuesday, May 2, the City struck back, painting over new graffiti again and installing special camera equipment. Mayor Carlo DeMaria said it won’t be tolerated and they will catch whoever is doing it.
“Over 200 community members gathered on April 22 to clean up the bike path, their work and dedication was tremendous,” he said. “To have their work defaced was disappointing. We will not tolerate this type of behavior, and we will prosecute. Most people in this city are respectful and appreciative of the beauty of our surroundings. The graffiti is being removed today and surveillance cameras are being installed.”