November 22, 2008
Buckingham area ‘tagged’
Vandals hit neighborhood fences, garages
BY TREVOR HUGHES
TrevorHughes @coloradoan.com
Graffiti vandals struck homes in the Buckingham neighborhood Thursday night, “tagging” fences and garages with black spray paint.
“I’m so fed up with all this bullcrap,” said Second Street resident Julie Beltran, upon discovering the new graffiti on her wooden fence.
Beltran said her fence has been spray painted seven times since July. Some of the fresh tags on her fence and others read “Buckingham Boys.”
The Buckingham neighborhood is a four-block residential area southeast of the New Belgium Brewing Co. brewery on Linden Street.
Beltran called police to report the graffiti after discovering it about 11 a.m. Friday.
“I know who these boys are and I want something done,” Beltran said she told a police dispatcher.
In addition to Beltran’s fence, the vandals also painted a nearby white vinyl fence and several garage doors.
Other Buckingham residents had already spoken with police Friday morning after discovering the vandalism. They said officers told them the graffiti was gang-related.
As is typical with gang graffiti, the vandals used a single color and crossed out markings made by rivals with large Xs. Several of the tags read “187,” which is commonly associated with gang activity – Section 187 of the California Penal Code that covers murder.
Police consider graffiti a crime, not art, and urge residents to report graffiti to the city’s Graffiti Hotline at 416-2400. Anyone who sees graffiti vandalism in progress, however, is asked to call 911 to report the crime.