Taggers Arrested After Posting Graffiti Photos on Facebook

On April 21, San Diego sheriff’s deputies arrested several members of a tagging group responsible for over $70,000 in property damage in Imperial Beach. Law enforcement officials tracked them down on Facebook, according to a press release.

Imperial Beach resident Russel “Razl” Matthews, 20, had a Facebook page with photos of him and other members of the tagging crew posing with their works of vandalism. Two of Matthews’s Facebook “friends,” Jacob “Rocket” Jacobson, 19, and a 16-year-old juvenile, were also arrested. Police officers in Chula Vista and National City are looking for at least seven more taggers identified in the posted photos.

An Imperial Beach homeowner who was scrubbing clean his fence early on May 1 was glad to hear of the arrests but said they haven’t stopped the tagging on his block.

“I had the city out last week cleaning up one, and I got hit again last night, so I’m dealing with that,” said the homeowner. “They like this white wall. I should paint it black, but then they’d probably use white paint.”