A graffiti artist known by the tag “Debris” is in the Atlanta City Jail Friday after turning himself in to police.
Zachary Thomas Thatcher, 18, of Cumming, turned himself in to Atlanta police officers Thursday after a warrant was issued, APD spokesman Carlos Campos said.
Thatcher is being held on a $10,000 bond for charges that include destruction of property as well as 15 violations of the city code of “graffiti abatement.”
The “Debris” tag has been found on the 100 block of Piedmont Avenue in downtown Atlanta; around the Sweet Auburn Curb Market; and around Georgia State University, Campos said.
Police said Thatcher sprayed the tag on light poles, bridges, signs, utility boxes, walls and doors of public and private buildings.
“Regardless of how talented you might be, you just can’t deface property that doesn’t belong to you,” Campos said.
Thatcher’s arrest comes after Atlanta’s Graffiti Task Force, which includes the APD, painted over tags and street art along the Hill Street underpass.
It is the second major arrest since two men were caught spraypainting the word "Cruel" on a Verizon Wireless billboard near the Boulevard exit off of I-20.
Campos said the APD wants to work with legitimate artists who want to have their street art commissioned so it can be displayed legally.
Two Edgewood men and a metal supply business have filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against a group of graffiti taggers and street artists.
Several of them have denied their part in the graffiti tags that have colored the Edgewood Avenue and Jenkins Metal Supply building for years. They also have struck back with lawsuits of their own.
The lawyer representing the residents and business warned that additional taggers will be added to the lawsuit in the near future.
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