Police move in on graffiti artists

   JAMESBURG — Police believe a series of graffiti incidents that have taken place across the borough since the beginning of the year are the work of the same local teenager or small group of teens.

By: Leon Tovey
   JAMESBURG — Police believe a series of graffiti incidents that have taken place across the borough since the beginning of the year are the work of the same local teenager or small group of teens.
   Detective Louis Ceras said Tuesday that seven graffiti tags found at four locations around the borough since Jan. 2 appear to be the work of the same tagger or group of taggers, whom he suspects are borough middle school students.
   "We’re looking into three kids — two guys and a girl — who were buying spray paint a week or so ago from the (Better Living) hardware store," Detective Ceras said.
   The tags have been found on the gym of the Grace M. Breckwedel middle school and on cinder-block retaining walls at Renaissance Commons on Forsgate Drive, the Quarry Cove development on Half-Acre Road and at the Knights of Columbus Park on Augusta Street, Detective Ceras said.
   Detective Ceras said a teacher at the GMB school reported seeing three youths outside the school’s gym on the night of Jan. 3. He also said a woman who lives next to the Renaissance building reported hearing noises at the building at 11 p.m. Jan. 4.
   Detective Ceras said several of the tags in question include the initials J, S and Z, and two of the tags — those found at GMB school and at the Renaissance building — also contain variations on the name "Jill," and three dots in the shape of a paw print.
   "It’s all pretty elaborate art," Detective Ceras said. "A lot of the graffiti we see in town is pretty sloppy: ‘school sucks,’ ‘this teacher sucks,’ ‘that teacher sucks’ — this is something else."
   Another thing that sets the tags apart from other graffiti police have seen is the difficulty of removing them. Mayor Tony LaMantia said Wednesday that due to the porous nature of the surfaces the tags were left on, Public Works employees haven’t yet been able to wash off the spray paint.
   "We’ve tried different chemicals and they don’t work," Mayor LaMantia said. "We’re looking into other options, but (the defaced sections of the walls) may just have to be replaced."
   The mayor said that regardless of needs to be done to restore the defaced surfaces, the costs would not be borne exclusively by the borough.
   "When the time comes and we catch who did this, we’re going to petition the court for restitution," he said. "The people who did this — or their parents — are going to be held responsible for the costs of putting things back the way they were."
   Detective Ceras asked that anyone with information on the incidents contact him at (732) 521-0011.