SEATTLE — King County prosecutors said a billboard along Spokane Street, near the West Seattle bridge, was tagged sometime between March 11 and April 8.
The company that owns the billboard is now out of thousands of dollars after a loss of revenue and having to pay for repairs.
“The reason this is a felony crime is because of the amount of damage,” Casey McNerthney, with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, told KIRO Newsradio on Tuesday. “Just on this one billboard alone it was more than $8,500 in damage. If you vandalize somebody else’s property and we can prove that, you can expect a felony charge when it’s sent to us.”
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During their investigation, the Seattle Police Department learned Kyle McLaughlin’s alleged crime was posted on YouTube in a graffiti documentary. McLaughlin was allegedly part of a group of vandals who wore masks, and concealed their identity in other ways, but failed to fully cover their tattoos.
Prosecutors said police were able to link McLaughlin by comparing tattoos in the video with known pictures of McLaughlin, including his driver’s license.
“What we’ve charged here is malicious mischief in the first degree and that’s a pretty serious felony that comes with a pretty significant penalty if convicted,” McNerthney said.
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Graffiti is, unfortunately, a scourge in many communities in Western Washington, especially Seattle. It is damaging to the quality of life and makes people feel unsafe.
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“To have a business or a home that you invest in and put your time in, routinely vandalized, that’s really detrimental to the community,” McNerthney said. “I think a lot of times people see graffiti on I-5, or in the I-90 tunnel or on billboards and wonder, is anybody doing anything about that? King County prosecutors are. And there’s also a detective for Seattle Police and other agencies who are working every week, every day, on these cases. Even though you don’t always see it on the news.”
Therefore, Mclaughlin’s bail was set at $15,000. His next court date is August 21.
James Lynch is a reporter at KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of James’ stories here. Follow James on X, or email him here.
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