YouTube video leads Oregon police to suspected graffiti vandal, $10,000 in spray paint and supplies

Lina Portman1 week ago

0 1 minute read

By Tanner Todd
oregonlive.com

PORTLAND, Ore. — A YouTube docuseries called “CITY OF CHAOST” A raid in which a Portland tagger bragged about having a huge stash of spray paint led police to his Centennial neighborhood home — and the seizure of his spray paint and supplies worth $10,000, police said.

Portland police said Tuesday they searched the home of suspect James S. Fischel in the 1800 block of Southeast 174th Avenue while he was not there.

But officers found a stash of more than 1,500 cans of spray paint, which Fischel, 40, called “every graffiti artist's fantasy” on an episode of “CHAOSTOWN,” the Portland Police Bureau said Tuesday in his press release.

PPB Neighborhood Response Team officers began investigating the Portland man after finding the YouTube video featuring a person they identified as Fischel in mid-May, said the police. Although Fischel is masked in the video, officers gathered enough information to link the video to him and his home, police said.

Police accuse Fischel of being behind a series of GIMER (Graffiti is Me Escaping Reality) tags. He is also suspected of supplying other graffiti vandals, police said.

Police have not arrested Fischel and he has not been charged with any crimes related to the seizure Tuesday. But police said in their statement that this would change.

“Although Fischel is currently out of the area, law enforcement is aware of his location and is pursuing criminal charges,” the statement said.

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