PROVINCETOWN – Police brought a nine-month graffiti spree to an end Friday when they arrested the man suspected of “tagging” hundreds of local buildings and signs.
Arrested was Kevin Burke, 24, who police called a drifter who slept on various people’s couches in town. He was arrested around noon Friday after police executed a search warrant of his last known address, 49 Bayberry Ave., Thursday night. There they found numerous spray paint cans and journals containing the same type of graffiti that had been splashed over street signs, transformer boxes, rest rooms and store walls.
In addition, police also found post office priority mail labels, which the vandal had marked with graffiti and stuck on various locations around town.
“He’s very talented,” said Provincetown Police Officer Monica Himes, who led the investigation since the graffiti began showing up last summer. “It’s unfortunate he had to express that talent on other people’s and the town’s property.”
Burke was identified after a security camera at Tedeschi’s Market on Bradford Street caught him in the act. Burke was arrested as he walked down Commercial Street on Friday. He will be charged with numerous incidents of graffiti tagging, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum jail sentence of two years and requires the culprit to pay for removal and repair of the graffiti.
May 1st, 2008
