Teen Gets Tagged For $23,500 Graffiti Spree 16-Year-Old Faces Community Service, Two Years’ Probation, Restitution Bill

(From For the Record, January 1, 1997): Two teens convicted of spraying graffiti on Spokane buildings attend Spokane County Juvenile Court’s structured alternative confinement program. An article in Tuesday’s Spokesman-Review incorrectly said they attended another alternative program.

A Spokane County judge slammed a North Side teen Monday for a graffiti spree she called “community terrorism.”

Judge Kathleen O’Connor sentenced the 16-year-old to three months in juvenile detention, two years of probation, 300 hours of community service and handed a $23,500 restitution bill for his graffiti joyride in northwest Spokane last fall.

“What gives you the right to paint other people’s property?” Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor asked the youth.

“You do not live in a vacuum … You must think about the consequences of your actions.”

One of the youth’s graffiti partners was sentenced to nine months in juvenile detention earlier this month for his role in the spree. Another awaits sentencing, and two others await trial.

Together, the five teens from Shadle Park and North Central high schools and the Sacajawea alternative school formed the gang “New School Taggers.”

Wednesday’s defendant, nicknamed “Jester,” was a gang leader. He even committed $450 in graffiti damage on his own, according to prosecutor Dave Hearrean.

The gang hit 45 buildings, including a school, dental office, church, and the Audubon Park home of an 82-year-old grandmother.

Hearrean said victims were scared that they were caught in the middle of a gangland turf war.

“This has caused a wave of fear through the community,” Hearrean said, arguing for an exceptionally high sentence because the crime was gang-related. “This is more than just a property crime.”

But teen’s attorney argued the spree did not fit stereotype of gang crime. “This is not selling drugs at First and Jefferson,” said John Whaley.

He said his client has a supportive family, and his father spoke to the court in favor of his son.

The youth said he was sorry, and that he wasn’t thinking of the consequences when he and friends sprayed the graffiti. “I thought it was fun,” he said.

The teen had a pair of brushes with the law, including a 1991 conviction for a weapons offense. He dropped out of North Central High last year, calling school “boring.”

O’Connor gave him less jail time than the prior suspect, noting that he hadn’t broken rules during 48 days of house arrest.

But she slapped him with a whopping community service sentence, near the maximum. The youth will serve his time cleaning graffiti.

Hearrean asked O’Connor for an exceptional term of 52 weeks, but said he was satisfied with the sentence. “I hope this sends a message: gang graffiti in Spokane has to stop,” he said.

Victims remained bewildered by the spree.

The grandmother’s garage sustained $585 in damage, a bill she had to pay on a fixed income. But fear extracted a heavier toll, she said.

“Why do they do this? They don’t know what it makes us feel like,” she said.

, DataTimes