Posted on: Friday, June 3, 2005

8 boys, man charged with 26 graffiti offenses

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer

A monthlong police investigation triggered by the arrests of suspected vandals of a retaining wall along the H-1 Freeway widening project has resulted in charges against eight boys and a man for 26 graffiti-related offenses in 'Aiea, Pearl City and Waipahu.

The youths are 12 through 17 years old; the man is 18. All were charged with misdemeanor third-degree criminal property damage, said Pearl City police Lt. Ben Ballesteros. "They know each other but it's not a gang," Ballesteros noted.

Three of the boys, two 17 and the other 16, have been charged with 17 of the 26 offenses. Most of them are for graffiti on the retaining wall near the Kaonohi Street overpass where the H-1 Freeway widening project starts, on the Managers Drive overpass and the Tanioka's Seafoods & Catering building on Farrington Highway in Waipahu, and in Waikele. The man was charged with three offenses.

Pearl City Crime Reduction Unit officers, working with state Transportation Department personnel, caught three youths doing graffiti on the retaining wall on May 4 at 1:35 a.m. while staking out the area. CRU Sgt. Douglas Iwamasa said those arrested represent just one of many graffiti groups in the district.

Iwamasa said the vandals appear to plan their graffiti works, with each person using spray paints with different types of tips. "They can do a wall in 10 minutes," he said.

"Graffiti does affect the community and damages property," Ballesteros said.

Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.