Graffiti vandal charged

A BERWICK graffiti vandal has been arrested after causing more than $34,000 damage around the City of Casey.
Police arrested the 19-year-old man at his house on 4 June and charged him with two counts of theft and five counts of criminal damage. The arrest comes as members of the Casey Response Unit clamped down on graffiti crime in the area, with the backing of the council.
Casey’s Tactical Intelligence Operative, Leading Senior Constable Christopher Blazevic said police received intelligence from the council, which was often called to clean-up graffiti sites.“Offenders leave tags, which are photographed and handed to us by the council. It’s then our job to identify the tag owners and then gather enough evidence to charge them,” Sen Const Blazevic said. “There may be misconceptions among young people that this is an anonymous crime, and that they can vandalise property without getting caught,” he said.
The man will appear before the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 21 August this year.