ST. GEORGE – The St. George Police are currently investigating a string of graffiti incidents reported Monday morning.
Officer Derek Lewis, public information officer for the St. George Police Department, said the police received multiple graffiti calls starting at around 9:30 a.m. Monday from the Dixie Downs area of St. George. Reports added up to over 20 graffiti-related incidents.
“We don’t believe it’s gang-related,” Lewis said, “but we’re not ruling out the possibility.”
The St. George Police’s gang task force is currently investigating string of graffiti tags.
Additional graffiti was reported in another part of town Wednesday morning, Lewis said, but it is not believed to be related to the Dixie Downs incidents.
Anyone with any information is encouraged to call the police at 435-673-5000. Those wishing to remain anonymous can also call the Anonymous Tips line at 435-688-8477.
Ed. Corrective Note and Update Jan. 10, 2013:
At first publication this report indicated the “drug and gang task force” is investigating; these are two separate task forces within the St. George Police Department and it is the gang task force that is investigating the grafitti tagging incidents. Correction has been made.
The featured image with this story is, as captioned both on its face and beneath it, unrelated to the grafitti and tagging incidents reported in the story. At publication, photos of the actual grafitti involved in the report were not availed to St. George News. The image utilized is actual of a different incident at a different time, included as representation of the blight that grafitti is when placed where it does not belong.
On further request for subject photos, Officer Derek Lewis of St. George Police Department’s Administrative Services Division said:
“When people do grafitti like this, they are looking for notoriety. … this would encourage whoever is doing this to continue the crime.”
Editorial note and update by St. George News Editor-in-Chief Joyce Kuzmanic
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @MoriKessler
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.
The problem with this story is the graffiti shown in this picture is in the Green Valley area. Why not identify the culprits for the Green Valley graffiti (or those vandals in the caves south of Bloomington)? Where are the pictures of the actual graffiti in Dixie Downs which probably isn’t nearly as bad as what’s shown in the pictures, or in those cave, or in Santa Clara.
Dixie Rex, good eye. Simply, photos of the grafitti incident to this story were not availed to us and we want to convey the general idea of grafitti as it is a blight wherever it appears, no matter the degree. And yes, you are right about the location (do you see we captioned it?) This photo was taken in July 2012 in the extended dirt and desert area beyond the Bear Claw Poppy to Green Valley Loop trails to the west of Bloomington and Green Valley.
Be assured, if we obtain photos of the culprits, the incident grafitti, we’ll update and report. Keep your eyes open and let us know if you can help?
Thank you,
Joyce
Dear Dixie Rex, I kindly refer you to an editorial note and update to this story Jan. 10, addressing grafitti images, per our further request upon St. George Police Department.
Thank you again for your concern,
Joyce