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The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Suspected vandal may have left mark on campus, state

Published 2011-04-26T21:51:00Z”/>

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Teresa De Luz

A man suspected to be a graffiti artist known throughout the state for his “Gomes” tags was apprehended by Chico police April 19 on West Third and Walnut streets.

The suspect, 21-year-old Emanuel Archiga, was arrested outside a 7-Eleven convenience store under suspicion of felony vandalism and conspiracy to commit a crime, said Sgt. Rob Merrifield of Chico police in a press release.

Police found evidence of spray paint, gas masks, stencils and multiple other items linked to the crimes at Archiga’s apartment on Pomona Avenue, Merrifield said. Additional evidence was also found in the trunk of Archiga’s car upon his arrest.

Chico police and other officers from Amtrak and Union Pacific Railroad aided the search for Archiga, he said.

The police department’s TARGET team had investigated the vandalism of several fences and buildings with the repeated tag “Gomes” in black lettering with a white background, the press release said. The tag had been linked to other acts of graffiti in the state.

“When guys travel around like that they like to make their mark, even though the name its self has no significance to us,” Sgt. Merrifield said.

Samuel Archiga, 19, Emanuel Archiga’s cousin, was arrested after being caught tagging a fence near Manzanita Avenue, which allowed police to obtain a search warrant for the Pomona Avenue apartment, the press release said.

Other agencies such as the Graffiti Eradication program are working with authorities to track the extent of the vandalism. The court system will decide if Archiga will pay fines associated with cleaning up the graffiti, Merrifield said.

“Imagine coming to your business and having to paint over that kind of crap when you are already financially strapped,” he said

The city is also quick to clean and paint over graffiti, which creates less of a tolerance of it in the community, Assistant City Manager John Rucker said.

“We try to eradicate it as soon as possible, even in the same day,” Rucker said. “This doesn’t give them the pleasure if they don’t see it.”

Preventing such crime can be a difficult task for the police department due to its low priority compared to other crimes, said weekend day shift Sgt. Billy Aldridge.

“Graffiti is one of those crimes where you can only prevent it by being visible out there in the community, at all times of the day,” Aldridge said.

A strong community partnership is key to prevent vandals, he said. Anyone who sees an act of vandalism taking place is urged to call the Graffiti Hotline at 530-898-2003.

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<strong>Teresa De Luz can be reached at</strong>

<em>[email protected]</em>

 

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