A 22-year-old Surrey resident is facing charges of mischief and assaulting a police officer after he was allegedly caught spray-painting graffiti on a train at the CP Rail yard in Port Coquitlam.
The suspect was arrested shortly after 9:30 p.m. on Friday, May 13, after police spotted a man with a spray can in hand. After a short chase, he was apprehended. He was later released by a judge on a promise to appear. Charged is Graham White.
Earlier in the evening A Mountie and a CP Rail Police officer arrested a 13-year-old for spray-painting a BC Hydro utility box. The youth, who cannot be identified, is facing one count of mischief.
"Preventing graffiti and reducing the impact it has on neighbourhoods goes beyond arresting taggers," said Const. Matt Berinbaum. He said stopping vandalism needs to be a community effort.
Police in Coquitlam and PoCo, he added, have seen some success in preventing graffiti by painting murals or applying graffiti-resistant decorative films on surfaces that have been targeted by taggers.
For information about how to combat graffiti go to www.coquitlam.rcmp.ca.
