Prolific tagger caught in Petaluma

Derek Murphy, 21, is suspected of acts of vandalism from Bakersfield to Seattle.|

It took months of detective work to catch a prolific spray-painting vandal from Petaluma who is suspected of tagging cities all across the West Coast.

On Monday, 2011 Petaluma High School graduate Derek Maxwell Murphy, 21, was arrested by the Santa Cruz Police Department, and is being held on $5,000 bail.

“It’s so frustrating that these people come in and hijack the natural beauty of our city,” said Deputy Chief Steve Clark of the Santa Cruz department, adding that the investigation was lengthy. “This was a case where we just had to do the work and leave no rock unturned.”

In June, the words “berg” and “greb” were spray-painted in bubble-letter graffiti style all across Santa Cruz on fences, walls and city parks - even on two police cars that were parked in a city lot, awaiting repair. As detectives followed up on the case, they discovered that similar tags had been reported from Bakersfield to Seattle.

After coordinating with the San Francisco Police Department, the Santa Cruz detectives learned that Murphy had been arrested for and suspected of a variety of graffiti-related vandalism crimes in recent years. Working with law enforcement in Sonoma and Napa counties, the Santa Cruz officers pinpointed Murphy’s last known address, and coordinated with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department to arrest him at his family home in Petaluma on Monday afternoon.

“They (his family) did not seem happy to have him there,” Clark said.

Clark added that his colleagues believe they have spotted more of Murphy’s handiwork along the drive from Santa Cruz to Petaluma, including on highways 101, 880 and 37.

“This guy was everywhere,” he said.

Clark said Murphy had a partner in crime, who is not being identified because police are currently trying to locate the suspect. “We think he may have left the country,” Clark said.

After searching Murphy’s possessions, Clark said, police found a cache of evidence including photos and digital cameras that contained pictures of graffiti, which police suspect was his way of recording his work. They also found sketch books that featured similar “berg” designs.

Clark said his office would share the photos with law enforcement agencies all across the West Coast in case other agencies recognize the graffiti and decide to press additional charges against Murphy.

“Each individual jurisdiction will have to prosecute him,” Clark said. “We’ll help out however we can by sharing the results of our investigation.”

Clark said his office is still deciding how many charges to file against Murphy, but he was arrested for felony vandalism. The city will seek restitution for the money spent cleaning up the damages.

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Sgt. Cecile Focha said they were waiting to see what evidence Santa Cruz police provided before pressing charges.

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