5 TEENS ARRESTED IN VANDALIZING SPREE.Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer Five teen-agers who met as skateboard enthusiasts were arrested on suspicion of vandalizing street signs, storefronts, park fences and residential block walls during a four-month period, deputies say. The boys, two 17-year-olds and three 16-year-olds, all live in Canyon Country. Authorities withheld their names because they are minors. No charges have been filed against the boys, none of whom is in custody, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County District Attorney's Office. ``This particular group started out as a group of skateboarders and evolved into a tagging crew,'' said sheriff's Detective Anthony Miano. All of the vandalism in this case ``was permanent damage'' that had to be either painted over or sandblasted off, he said. ``The majority of the graffiti we're investigating was done either in spray paint, marking pens or shoe polish,'' Miano said. Detectives from the station's gang and juvenile crimes unit, who have been investigating the string of 80 vandalisms that took place between May and August, aren't sure how the vandals gained possession of aerosol spray Aerosol spray is a type of dispensing system which creates an aerosol mist of liquid particles. This is used with a can or bottle that contains a liquid under pressure. When the container's valve is opened, the liquid is forced out of a small hole and emerges as an aerosol or mist. paint, which can't be sold to individuals under age 18. The shoe polish, however, is a relatively new but increasingly common tool. ``It's easier to obtain than spray paint. There's no age requirement for shoe polish,'' Miano said. ``It stains and it leaves a permanent mark. At the end of the bottle is a sponge applicator ap·pli·ca·tor n. An instrument for applying something, such as a medication. applicator, n a device for applying medication; usually a slender rod of glass or wood, used with a pledget of cotton on the end. , so they use that similar to a paint brush.'' Authorities wouldn't reveal what schools the teens attend, identifying them only as members of a tagging crew of graffiti vandals. The taggers' handiwork led to their capture, once detectives learned the identities behind the nicknames scrawled in the graffiti, Miano said. Searches of the boys' homes turned up assorted graffiti paraphernalia PARAPHERNALIA. The name given to all such things as a woman has a right to retain as her own property, after her husband's death; they consist generally of her clothing, jewels, and ornaments suitable to her condition, which she used personally during his life. , tools and ``evidence linking them to the crimes and/or the tagging crew,'' he said. The vandals marked up stretches of the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. , between Sierra Highway Sierra Highway is a road in Southern California, United States. It runs from Tunnel Station near the north limit of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects with San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard, as well as Interstate 5, and continues north to Mojave, mostly paralleling and Sand Canyon Road, scrawling tags on emergency call boxes and sand-filled yellow barrels placed near freeway off-ramps, Miano said. The graffiti ranged in size from a few square feet to 50 feet long, he added. Much of the graffiti was painted on storefronts and the walls around homes. ``Wherever there was open space - they seemed to be pretty indiscriminate in·dis·crim·i·nate adj. 1. Not making or based on careful distinctions; unselective: an indiscriminate shopper; indiscriminate taste in music. 2. ,'' Miano said. ``No particular business or home was targeted. They just did it wherever they could do it.'' |
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