taggers: September 2011 Archives

LOS ANGELES -- Sheriff's deputies Tuesday sought a tagger who uses the moniker "RUETS" for his alleged role in vandalizing several trains, busses and other public property, officials said.

Thomas Benson, 28, a.k.a. "RUETS" allegedly belongs to several tagging crews including AL (At Large), PDB (Pros Don't Boast) and ND (North East). He may also belong to a group known as Mad Society Kings, sheriff's deputy Michael Thibodeaux said in a statement.

"MSK is a tagging crew that we know to have ties to several other crews here in L.A., including those that Benson is a part of," said Thibodeaux, "We believe a tagger, Jason Williams, who uses the tagger moniker REVOK, is a leading figure in the MSK crew."

In April Williams was convicted and sentenced to 180 days in jail after a judge found that he had violated the terms of his probation in a previous vandalism conviction. He was found to have violated his probation on a misdemeanor vandalism charge by failing to pay adequate restitution to his victims, officials said.

Williams was arrested by deputies with the Sheriff's Metro Transit Services Bureau Special Problems Unit prior to his April conviction.

"These taggers are not misguided kids," Detective Sergeant Ron Marquez said in a prepared statement, "These suspects are in their 20s and 30s. They are adults who pass themselves off as artists, when in reality, they're criminals who commit vandalism crimes that cost property owners and taxpayers a lot of money to clean up."

For more information, visit the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department website to see "LA's Most Wanted Taggers at:

http://sheriff.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/lasd/graffiti/

To see some of RUETS work visit:

http://graffiti.graffhead.com/2009/05/ruets-go-lakers-round-2.html