A 15-year-old Dover boy was arrested Sept. 17 in connection with a series of spray painting throughout downtown Dover and east of Route 13 that police have been investigating since early this year.
They got their first lead into the case after they found him out late at night Sept. 2.
“An officer saw him out around 2 a.m. [The boy] was sweating and [the officer] thought it was odd,” said Lt. Paul Bernat, spokesman for the Dover Police Department.
Following up on that incident, Bernat said a school resource officer at Dover High School was on the lookout for the signature “Poop” tag. He came across quite a bit of it on the suspect’s schoolbooks, leading to his arrest.
Police arrested Taryn Taylor, 15, of Dover, and charged him with 23 counts of graffiti, 23 counts of possession of graffiti tools, two counts of second-degree trespass and three-counts of third-degree trespass. He was arraigned at Kent County Family Court and released to the custody of a parent on $3,800 unsecured bond. The boy also has a 9 p.m. curfew.
Over the past couple of weeks, the downtown Dover area had become a bit of a playground for the “Poop” tagger and another yet-to-be-determined person who is partial to the word “Sure.” Just about all the major street corners downtown are marked with one or both — often with one crossing out the other.
The first tags were reported in February and, to date, police have tallied 19 properties that have been spray painted for a total of $4,475 in damages.
Bernat said they don’t have a suspect for the “Sure” culprit and that Taylor told police he didn’t know who it was either.
Email Melissa Steele atmelissa.steele@doverpost.com
Dover, Del. —
