Over the past several weeks there has been a surge in reported tagger graffiti in NE Minneapolis, especially in the area from Lowry to 30th, Central to Johnson. On a few occasions residents and the police have chased suspects who were caught in the act or who were seen prowling in alleys where graffiti was reported.

Several suspects have been identified by the police. Because they are all juveniles, their names cannot be released.

Last night, Sgt. Donna Olson, the MPD Graffiti Investigation Coordinator, and officers from the 2nd Pct Community Response Team executed a search warrant at the home of one of these suspects. Numerous examples of practice tags were found in the suspect's bedroom, along with drug paraphernalia and a small amount of suspected narcotics.

Sgt. Olson is following up and attempting to get this suspect charged criminally.

Second Precinct officers will continue to monitor this area in an effort to catch this kid and his friends in the act. We believe that this group may also be responsible for several burglaries of unsecured garages that have occurred in the same area.

I should point out that although many of the tags seen recently contain gang symbols, I do not believe this represents an upswing in gang activity in NE. I think this suspect is a punk wannabe who is incorporating gang symbols into his tags to intimidate residents and show off to his friends.

Lt. Jeff Rugel
Minneapolis Police Department
Second Precinct