The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has filed 34 felony counts of vandalism toward 17 people after a months long investigation, claiming these people graffitied up to $100,000 in property damage.
“Graffiti has been a scourge in our community. It has cost millions of dollars of damage in King County,” King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said.
During a press conference on Thursday, both the City of Seattle and King County prosecutors laid out some details of their investigation, including photos of these alleged taggers painting water towers and along the I-5 corridor.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said during Thursday’s press conference that graffiti like this is a big problem in the city.
“Including nearly 28,000 reports in 2024 to date,” Harrell said.
City and county leaders say cleaning up graffiti is also very expensive. The city of Seattle alone spent $6 million in the past year on graffiti cleanup.
“We need to say that this is costing all a lot of taxpayer dollars. It causes a lot of damage when we are doing the clean up and it is not what we want as a society,” Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison said.
Several representatives of Seattle neighborhoods also chimed in about the ongoing problem of graffiti.
SODO BIA Executive Director Erin Goodman says this isn’t just a financial problem.
“But the impact is not just financial. The emotional and psychological toll on business and property owners from repeated vandalism is profound,” Goodman said.
And because of this recent bust, both prosecutors and people impacted by the ongoing vandalism hope these charges send a clear message and that isn’t about locking people up but having them pay the financial consequences.
“There must be clear accountability for the significant amount of damage and harm caused by prolific taggers and vandals,” Mannion said.
All 17 people facing charges will have their arraignment hearings in January.