Ann Arbor teenager pleads guilty to misdemeanor vandalism for graffiti
One of the Ann Arbor teenagers accused of painting graffiti in several locations around the city over the past few months pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor vandalism charge last week.
Robert Agnew
Courtesy of the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office
In exchange for the guilty plea to the misdemeanor charge, prosecutors will drop a felony charge of malicious destruction of property worth more than $1,000 but less than $20,000, Bush said.
Police say Agnew is the graffiti tagger known as “Zeus.” He’s been accused in multiple acts of vandalism around the city, and Bush said more charges could be brought against him as cases progress. He was arrested while tagging playground equipment in Las Vegas Park in April, Bush said.
The other Ann Arbor teenager who is facing a felony vandalism charge returns to court Wednesday for a pretrial hearing.
Jacob Saalberg
Courtesy of the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office
Jacob Saalberg, 17, is facing one count of malicious destruction of property worth more than $1,000 but less than $20,000. He’s scheduled to have a pretrial hearing at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in front of Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Archie Brown.
Saalberg is accused of tagging the building at 220 Felch St. in mid-March just days after the building’s owner paid $3,000 to have the building totally cleaned of graffiti. Police said a search of Saalberg's home turned up spray paint cans, paint pens and electronics showing evidence of graffiti being recovered.
He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
JRW
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 : 9:14 p.m.
Thank you, Kyle, for your follow-up on the graffiti issue. I hope they get serious sentences that includes removal of graffiti around the city. There is still plenty of it around, and more appears weekly, unfortunately. Having criminal records will also serve as a lesson.
Robert Hughes
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 : 1:32 a.m.
Pity there is so much vitriol against this activity. Here we are, destroying the land base with buildings, roads & infrastructure, with no regard to future generations; we say "that's zoning" or "it's the bottom line" and just keep on building these life choking monstrosities. My point is it's the buildings (etc) that is the worst kind of vandalism. Hopefully these young men will find better ways to challenge this corrupt state in the future.
Stan Hyne
Tue, Aug 14, 2012 : 2:49 p.m.
People live in or use these buildings. More people, more buildings. Should keep the number of buildings the same and just have the new people move in with someone else.
L'chaim
Tue, Aug 14, 2012 : 1:25 p.m.
I doubt they had much of a challenge to the "corrupt state" in mind, unfortunately. I think they were just getting their kicks and don't care for real social change ---but I could be wrong, but graffiti is a pretty misguided protest in general, if it's a protest at all.
JoeNuke
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 3:04 p.m.
Maybe AADL and DDA, Police Services etc. should confer on the annual graffiti contest: http://www.aadl.org/events/list?id=16044 Seems like a "feel good" idea that potentially does more harm than good.
JRW
Fri, Jun 15, 2012 : 9:16 p.m.
Totally agree. AADL needs to stop the graffiti contest.
Cathy
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 10:17 p.m.
I really have to agree. "Graffiti" implies that someone is permanently marking someone else's property. An official contest gives these vandals legitimacy.
Jimmy McNulty
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 12:35 p.m.
Do any of these fines go towards reimbursing the property owners for cleaning up the graffiti?
Diane
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 12:24 p.m.
He looks scary. Glad you caught him.
Eight Ball
Sun, Jun 17, 2012 : 5:22 p.m.
Which one looks "scary"? They both look more scared than scary to me.
CincoDeMayo
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 11:55 a.m.
Regarding vandalism, I've often thought that teenagers just don't THINK and/or realize the cost of the damage that they are causing. They do not fully think things through. Consequences are good. So, imagine my shock when I saw a grown business man a few days ago poke his initials in some wet cement that had just been poured on the corner of S Fifth Ave and Washington...Where were his parents...?
InterestedReader
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 10:01 a.m.
"more charges could be brought against him as cases progress. " Taggers usually have a signature. I would like to see an example of Robert Agnew's as there has been tagging in my neighborhood.
L'chaim
Tue, Aug 14, 2012 : 1:21 p.m.
@ Cathy, You'd cut off a man's testis for "tagging"? I've heard of tit for tat, but never testicle for tag! That would be a gross perversion of the penal ... system. Seriously though, that sounds pretty extreme and perverse to me. What if "CHU" is a woman? Would you vote for removing her ovaries then? Shouldn't the punishment fit the crime?
Cathy
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 10:15 p.m.
I see "CHU" all over the place. If the cops ever catch him, I'd vote for castration.
J Shaker
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 3:38 a.m.
did somebody say that the library has a graffiti contest? cool, i'll have to check that out.
Barzoom
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 12:27 a.m.
Maybe the loss of the offending digit that pressed the trigger on the spray can would be sufficient to deter these people.
Cathy
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 10:14 p.m.
Stuart Brown: There is no mention of Muslims in Barzoom's post or, for that matter, AAProgressive's. Just sayin'.
Stuart Brown
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 3:28 a.m.
No, it would would deter nobody and it would result in a life time disability that I am sure you would be willing to help pay for! Why do people in this country hate Muslims so much when they insist on acting like the worst of them?
AAProgressive
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 1:13 a.m.
This is America, not Saudi Arabia.
Ron Granger
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 7:48 p.m.
If one wrist gets lightly slapped, does anyone even hear it?
janejane
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 6:51 p.m.
These kids need a good kick in the rear end, and then sent to clean up their messes with scrub brushes and good old fashioned elbow grease. Then, they need to pay back the costs of the previous cleanings and clean up the next graffiti messess around town...for, let's see, maybe the next 10 years.
ArthGuinness
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 6:42 p.m.
Call them whatever you want, except for the word "artists".
djm12652
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 5 p.m.
Has the author sought comments from any of the parents involved [or not] with these two?
Unusual Suspect
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 4:15 p.m.
"Police said a search warrant of Saalberg's home turned up spray paint cans, paint pens and electronics showing evidence of graffiti being recovered." The search warrant found all those things? It's amazing what a simple piece of paper can do these days.
Thomas
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 4:42 p.m.
Where are the parents? Don't parents today keep track of what their kids bring in the house and what it's being used for?
Kyle Feldscher
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 4:24 p.m.
Thanks for pointing that out, I've deleted the word "warrant."
John of Saline
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 4:14 p.m.
Can the businesses sue the kids? For the 17-year-old, could they sue the parents?
AAProgressive
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 1:11 a.m.
I thought I read somewhere that he had turned 18 since arrested.
North of the grits line
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 3:59 p.m.
Given the Ann Arbor District Library's grafitti promotion program held during the art fair time, it would seem that the library should be held responsible and accountable for their role. It is beyond unreal that we have one sector of city government fighting this anti-social behavior and another sector of city government promoting it. Have we all passed into the twilight zone?
L'chaim
Tue, Aug 14, 2012 : 12:17 p.m.
Yes, Grits has a point, but s/he grinds it grossly. Graffiti can be seen, and created, as mere art. Did the library encourage illegal activity, or creative self-expression in a particular style --redefining murals, maybe.
Haran Rashes
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 2:43 a.m.
It appears from a simple Google search of the accused names that Jacob Saalberg placed third in the AADL Teen Graffiti Contest in 2010. So maybe North of the Grits Line has a point. See: https://www.aadl.org/node/36506
pawky
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 3:46 p.m.
Please reconsider the use of the "tagger" term to describe criminal spray paint vandalism. That term seems to legitimize this ugly and expensive crime. They are spray paint vandals, pure & simple. Besides restitution, people convicted of this crime should be given lengthy local beautification community service. Parents often just pay and the "kids" don't learn a lesson.
L'chaim
Tue, Aug 14, 2012 : 12:22 p.m.
8-Balls, that's kind of the point, I think. We, the law-abiding citizenry are saying that graffiti, the way these boys were practicing it (in the traditional style) is NOT art, because it is an illegal act. Real painters, and true artists, paint on canvas or make murals. That's the line we're trying to draw.
Eight Ball
Sun, Jun 17, 2012 : 5:17 p.m.
Were they taggers or artists. I know that's subjective but the article doesn't say enough to let the reader make up his own mind.
Homeland Conspiracy
Thu, Jun 14, 2012 : 8:54 a.m.
Holy Spray Paint Vandals Batman!
rusty shackelford
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 5:56 p.m.
Yeah, but "tagger" is one word as opposed to three to convey the same information. Plus "Spray Paint Vandals" sounds like something out of Archie.
rs
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 3:41 p.m.
Why not sentence them to community service? I say they should have to spend their summer cleaning graffiti off our local buildings and signs.
L'chaim
Tue, Aug 14, 2012 : 12:13 p.m.
They could teach art to kids after school.
Steve in MI
Wed, Jun 13, 2012 : 3:47 p.m.
Because I don't want to pay someone to babysit these kids all summer. I'm completely fine with making them pay a criminal fine and picking up a record. I'm guessing once their criminal liability is established, they can be sued by the property owners for the cost of removing ALL of their "work". Let 'em work their way out of that debt on their own time.