2nd Ann Arbor teen arraigned on felony graffiti charge
A second Ann Arbor teenager has been arraigned on felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly spray painting graffiti in the city, police said Tuesday.
Robert Agnew, 18, was arrested Friday on a two-count warrant, said Ann Arbor police Lt. Renee Bush.
Agnew, suspected to be the graffiti tagger known as "Zeus," faces a felony charge of malicious destruction of property more than $1,000 but less than $20,000 and a misdemeanor charge of malicious destruction of property more than $200 but less than $1,000, Bush said.
Agnew was arraigned on the charges and given a $10,000 personal recognizance bond, according to Bush.
Detective Bernard Tucker, one of the main detectives working the graffiti cases that have riled business owners and residents, identified Agnew as being involved in multiple taggings around the city, Bush said. He’s suspected of vandalizing property in Las Vegas and Allmendinger Parks, causing more than $1,400 in damage, Bush said.
Agnew was arrested while allegedly tagging Las Vegas Park in April, but was released while a warrant was authorized, Bush said.
Agnew is the second Ann Arbor teenager to face felony charges for graffiti in the city.
Jacob Saalberg, who was 17 when he was arraigned, was arrested and charged in early April with one count of malicious destruction of property more than $1,000 but less than $20,000. He’s scheduled to be back in court for a pretrial hearing at 1:30 p.m. June 13 in front of Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Archie Brown.
It’s possible that Agnew might be facing additional criminal charges in the future, Bush said. Ann Arbor police detectives are working with investigators from the University of Michigan Department of Public Safety on additional cases related to the graffiti incidents, Bush said.
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
Morris Zapp
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 6:59 p.m.
It's good to know that Ann Arbor's finest have nothing better to do than treat a teenage graffiti artist as a felon. Is it really a wise use of resources to assign a detective to solving a graffiti case, and taking up prison space with an 18-year-old whose only crime is, at worse, a naive sense of judgment? Ann Arbor has become a symbol of everything that is wrong with America: people with too much money and too much time on their hands getting worked up over every trivial thing that comes within view that doesn't correspond to their banal idea of how the world ought to be. Get a grip on reality and get some perspective.
Eight Ball
Sun, Jun 17, 2012 : 5:31 p.m.
Remember the 60's and 70's. Ann Arbor used to stand for challenging the status quo sometimes in a violent way. Giving two children a felony record for a nonviolent act of expression is ridiculous. Why do I just know that these kids don't come from families that belong to the Country Club set, if they did these charges would be sealed record juvenile court restitution that's for sure.
JRW
Thu, May 31, 2012 : 2:12 p.m.
Damaging and vandalizing property is not trivial. Ask the owner of the building on Felch that was vandalized with graffiti, which included etching into glass. The owner cleaned it up to the tune of several thousand dollars, only to have it vandalized again with graffiti, perhaps by the same perp. This is not trivial. I live near the Pattengil area that was vandalized last fall with graffiti sprayed on private homes and cars. The cost of removal was in the thousands. This is not trivial.
Julius Zsako
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 5:50 p.m.
Graffiti is a hugely expensive problem as described at www.DefacingAmerica.com.
Skyjockey43
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 5:05 p.m.
I give credit where credit is due. This is a fine example of good work by our police department. Sadly, I don't have the the same faith in our courts and judges who will probably issue their typical light tap upon the wrist as punishment thereby nullifying any deterrence to this crime, and completely wasting the efforts of these investigators.
PhillyCheeseSteak
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 5:04 p.m.
I wonder if anyone will collect the $2,500 reward offered by Rob Cleveland, the owner of 220 Felch Street, a building that has repeatedly been 'tagged'? "Cleveland is offering $2,500 to anyone who provides information to him or the Ann Arbor police that leads to a conviction for the vandalizing of his building," AnnArbor.com 03/19/2012.
Kitty O'Brien
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 4:52 p.m.
Will the police mugshot be posted?
Allison Camara
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 3:24 p.m.
Great job on this guys but has anyone noticed the DMG tags around the city? What are those about there are a few, 3-4 , in Ypsi and 2-3 in AA, is this the Las Vegas gangs ;)? Also anyone noticed the LK on the kroger off of Carpenter and Packard, if this is truly the Latin Kings, yes they are known to be in Detroit, what are the police doing about that, a larger story about all the tagging going on would be nice.
djm12652
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 2:43 p.m.
Ironic Ann Arbor tagging....the Fire Hall on 5th across from City Hall!
CareyJernigan
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 2:28 p.m.
AAPD Thank you for finally taking a stand on this. Our historic downtown building (The Schlenker Building) has been assaulted for a decade. The cost to the building owner exceeds $10,000 in labor and materials to clean up the mess. We don't need to add reasons why people don't want to own property downtown.
Carole
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 1:57 p.m.
Take them back and let them clean up their mess -- a good deal of community service wold be warranted here.
JRW
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 1:16 p.m.
Good work, Det. Tucker. These guys are not easy to catch! The community appreciates your good work. Hopefully, if convicted, they will get some serious consequences. Cleaning up all the remaining graffiti around the city would be a start.
JRW
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 1:12 p.m.
Thank you for your good work, Kyle, in following through on the graffiti arrests. Do you happen to know why it took 2 months to get a warrant? Glad to see these guys arrested. Hopefully there will be some serious consequences for the damage they have caused, allegedly.
JSA
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 1:09 p.m.
Just make them responsible for cleaning their garbage up. Every day until it is gone. The only tool they can use are their tongues.
Gardener1
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 12:16 p.m.
Please clean up the traffic signs that have graffiti.
RJA
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 2:45 a.m.
Hopefully "ZEUS" doesn't see a street or building in AA for a long time.
Candis Hale
Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 6:22 a.m.
Amen.
ypsicat
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 3:12 a.m.
Five years max, but prolly will get pleaded down to a misdemeanor, probation and a wrist slap.
Visual Echo
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 12:07 a.m.
The tagging looks bad, and the business owners either have to get it sand blasted or painted over, either way that looks bad too. I hope I'm not on the jury, because I hope this kid scrubs garbage cans for the next ten years. Way to go, Det. Tucker!
nickcarraweigh
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 11:52 p.m.
They should turn this guy loose on City Hall, so they could get all the art they wanted for way, way less than $1 million.
Skyjockey43
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 11:52 p.m.
I'll start the applause once they catch Mekan. After that, I suggest Ann Arbor adopt Singapore's approach to malicious destruction of property deterrence. And for those of you who think graffiti is ok as long as it appears to have some intrinsic artistic value, let me ask you how you'd feel if they were to use your car as their blank canvas.
jon doe
Sat, Jan 19, 2013 : 7:09 a.m.
I dont understand why we as a society dont just make it illegal to sell spray paint. Or make it a substance only legal to own with a permit and proper registration, you know, with background checks and all that. Further, why don't we just make any kind of vandalism a crime punishable with 15 years in prison MINIMUM. I bet these taggers won't do it again if that is the case. OR - better idea - how about we just make it a lifetime sentence, that way there is ZERO chance of the problem happening again. Maybe we could cut off the hand which was used to perpetrate the offensive act; I heard that was pretty successful a few years back.
Skyjockey43
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 10:32 a.m.
Apparently my point just sailed right over your head
ButNotMe,Baby
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 11:17 p.m.
I can't stand tagging. It makes the town look like trash. I hated it the first time I saw pictures of it in New York City, and I hate it here. It's OLD. Enough already! We get it! And they can track down whoever "Barz" is next as far as I'm concerned.
Eight Ball
Sun, Jun 17, 2012 : 5:42 p.m.
Zeus, Barz, Lucky, SCEA? How do we know that, that's 100% conjecture. We should let the "justice" system work that out. What's outrageous is our taxes being wasted on this Keystone Cops inquisition over a little spray paint. I'm sorry some peoples bourgeois notions of what's proper are violated but we DO have the right to expression in the USA. Our tastes will vary.
Candis Hale
Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 6:25 a.m.
Barz lucky zeus and more... All him
Christine
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 11:24 p.m.
"Zeus" is "Barz" as well, the police just might not have enough evidence yet.
djm12652
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 2:44 p.m.
and SCEA.....
Goober
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 11:12 p.m.
Painted murals should be with the owners permission and possibly a permit from the city. The permit process can be assigned to any one of the 'cast of thousands' of AA city employees. Tagging is criminal and should be punished to the max limit of the law.
Ron Granger
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 10:40 p.m.
With any luck and a conviction, "Zeus" will no longer be on the loose. More likely, they'll slap his wrist and he'll go free after doing a little clean up work: Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
King Numa
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 10:12 p.m.
Does he really belong on jail? With a felony conviction? Community service and a fine would make more sense, because isn't going to do it again.
Candis Hale
Mon, Jun 11, 2012 : 6:23 a.m.
Yes completely belongs in the bed he made.
Skyjockey43
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 5:07 p.m.
Does he belong in jail for costing businesses thousands of dollars? Does "duh" count as a response?
DBH
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 10:22 p.m.
He may not actually have done it in the first place. He only has been charged, not convicted.
ypsicat
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 9:56 p.m.
Greater than $1,000 in damages = felony.
julieswhimsies
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 9:45 p.m.
Felony tagger. Did I read that correctly?
hail2thevict0r
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 12:29 p.m.
If someone stole $3,000 out of your car would you not want them charged with a felony? These kids aren't thinking of the damages they are causing before they paint something on a wall.
Mike D.
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 9:31 p.m.
To those minimizing the impact of graffiti, you obviously haven't had it happen to you. In some situations (such as when it's visible from the road), the city requires you to remove it, and it can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars to do so. A toothbrush and Comet won't remove graffiti from some surfaces. One small business of which I am aware was tagged repeatedly and had to pay for removal multiple times. It can literally ruin a small business.
djm12652
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 2:45 p.m.
AG paint helps...
Cendra Lynn
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 9:18 p.m.
FELONY???? Oh, brother. Just exactly what damage warrants a felony?? Speaking of graffiti, check out this Veteran's: https://www.nvam.org/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=180&category_id=5&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=57 He's Dominic Fredianelli from the movie, "Where Soldiers Come From."
hail2thevict0r
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 12:27 p.m.
Not to mention that Ann Arbor requires property owners to remove graffiti in a fairly short amount of time after it is found. Therefor the business owners can do nothing but spend the money to fix the problem. Then some little punk comes around a week after and "tags" the same thing again. Surely if someone just stole $3,000 out of your wallet you would feel differently. That's essentially what these teenagers did.
a2citizen
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 12:07 a.m.
Spray painting your house? Spray painting your car?
fjord
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 10:03 p.m.
What damage warrants a felony? Damage that costs $3,000 to remove. Graffiti may seem harmless, but if you had to spend $3K to remove it from your building, you'd see it differently.
Bear
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 8:59 p.m.
ooooh busted a graffitti-er, who's going to claim the glory of this bust?
observer
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 8:55 p.m.
Det. Tucker worked one of my cases and did a great job.....he never gets the credit he deserves either......
Ben Petiprin
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 8:40 p.m.
This is silly to me. I'm from Ypsi, but one of my favorite things about Ann Arbor is the skilled graffiti murals. Overwhelmingly it has nothing to do with gang affiliation or marking territory. It's an art form whose medium is the city itself. Ann Arbor should be proud of the apparently high numbers of talented painters it produces.
Davidian
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 7:38 p.m.
Ben, let's pretend for a second that you own a Lamborghini, and someone spraypainted it, or scratched an ugly symbol onto it. Beautiful or not, it's not their property, it has destroyed the property's value, and you're left with the bill. That's pretty much the equivalalent of what's going on here.
fjord
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 9:57 p.m.
Ben, follow the link in the fifth paragraph of the story. These are not "skilled graffiti murals," they're pointless instances of tagging, and they can cost building owners thousands of dollars to clean, otherwise those owners are issued citations by the city. Then there's nothing to stop the taggers from returning and spraying their stupidity all over the buildings again after they've been cleaned, leading to more citations and more expensive cleanups. It is not an art form. It is vandalism. Those who perpetrate it deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Billy
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 9:37 p.m.
Tagging isn't the same thing as graffiti in most cases. Don't compare some toy writing his moniker on a wall to someone who puts up a multi colored image that could either create a 3D effect or politically evoke emotion.
Constance Colthorp Amrine
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 9:13 p.m.
There's a huge difference between "skilled graffiti murals" and someone scribbling their their silly symbol on signs, walls and businesses. One is planned, thoughtful and artful. It tells a story and describes a culture. The other is a power gesture more akin throwing trash out your window (but more expensive to remove). It's meant to intimidate and not inform. To me, it's like trashing your own home. I've noticed a lot more of it in the past year.
Ponycar
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 9:08 p.m.
Except the murals you are talking about generally are done with the knowledge and permission of the building owner. What we're talking about here is the stupid, ugly and narcissistic tagging of nothing more artistic than the taggers "name" or other non-artistic blotch. Keep going AAPD.
a2tom
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 8:11 p.m.
It's very important that these "gangstas" are able to mark their turf with these tags.....because god knows you don't want to to get caught in Las Vegas park if your from the wrong side of Stadium......sigh.
smokeblwr
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 1:14 a.m.
South siiiiiiide!
fjord
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 10 p.m.
So which side is the "wrong" side?
fjord
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 7:36 p.m.
Graffiti tagging has to be one of the dumbest crimes a person can commit. There's no personal gain from it, yet it can cause thousands of dollars in damage ... AND you leave behind a signature that's usually not too difficult to trace back to you. I'm not really seeing the upside.
cinnabar7071
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 3:32 p.m.
GoNazy show your support my posting up your address, so they can tag your house. I wont hold my breath.
jcj
Wed, May 30, 2012 : 12:09 a.m.
GoNavy Is that what they teach in the Navy? I would say IF they have PERMISSION go ahead!
GoNavy
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 10:43 p.m.
Usually I'd say if they're painting nice murals, go ahead. However, crazy gang signs and odd symbols don't really have a place anywhere.
DBH
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 7:28 p.m.
Mr. Feldscher, you have any knowledge why it took police 2 months to obtain a warrant in this case? According to the previous story, he was initially arrested on March 31.
E09
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 7:20 p.m.
$1,4000 in damage? Do you mean 1,400 or 14,000?
Julie Baker
Tue, May 29, 2012 : 7:29 p.m.
$1,400. Thanks, we've fixed that.