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VIDEO: Tagger Caught on iPhone Spray Painting Near Bloomingdale Trail

By Alisa Hauser | January 17, 2014 9:41am | Updated on January 17, 2014 3:39pm
 Police arrested the alleged tagger who defaced this wall facing Park 567 in Bucktown late Wednesday.
Police arrested the alleged tagger who defaced this wall facing Park 567 in Bucktown late Wednesday.
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DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser

BUCKTOWN — A wall in a Bucktown park adjacent to the Bloomingdale Trail was defaced by graffiti, though area police were able to arrest the alleged tagger and an accomplice using video footage captured by a passerby.

Around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, a witness used his iPhone to capture video of a tagger spraying 6-foot high black letters along the wall of building adjacent to Park 567 in Bucktown.

The defacement occurred on the southern wall of a private building at 1815 N. Milwaukee Ave., which serves as the northern border to Park 567, which opened in September.

The man who used his iPhone to capture the crime can be heard yelling at the tagger, "Hey, why are you guys doing that?" The tagger responds, "Why are you doing that" and leaves, saying "Have a good night mother------."

Tagger caught on video
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DNAinfo

The park is one of five ground-level parks leading to to the 2.7-mile elevated Bloomingdale Trail, Chicago's first multi-use linear park, which runs along old railroad tracks through the Logan Square, Humboldt Park, Bucktown and Wicker Park neighborhoods.

According to police, the witness, who asked to remain anonymous, called 911 to alert them of the tagging.

Michael B. Peterson,  22, of the 1600 block of West Fargo Avenue, and Jason Serrano, 26, of the 1200 block of North Greenview Avenue, were arrested by Shakespeare District police, police said.

Peterson was identified as the man in the video, police said.

Peterson was charged with misdemeanor criminal defacement of property and possession of paint or marker with intent to deface, police said.

Serrano was charged with possession of a paint marker with intent to deface, police said. 

"I'm glad they caught them; they don't often catch them," said Michael Sullivan, a Bucktown resident who was walking his dogs in the park early Friday.

"This park is well maintained and the city comes by and cleans, but unfortunately that leaves them a blank canvas," Sullivan said.

Officer Amina Greer, a Chicago Police Department spokeswoman, confirmed the arrest.

Peterson and Serrano have a March 4 court date at Cook County Branch 23 Criminal Court, 5555 W. Grand Ave.