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Home > All News > 2009 News
Police: Roseville graffiti gang is 'defunct' after arrestsRoseville Police have a message for those who would leave their illicit mark on the city, one can of spray paint at a time: You’re not welcome here. Officers on Friday arrested five members of a tagging crew that’s believed responsible for a spike in graffiti vandalism over the last eight months. Called SGK – for Sacramento Graffiti Killers -- their work was becoming a major pain for Roseville business owners and property owners, who’ve been faced with swallowing thousands of dollars in cleanup costs. “Their mission is to get their monikers out there as much as possible, and to get them in public,” said Sgt. Darin DeFreece. “They’re basically laying claim to Roseville.” Arrested as part of Operation Buffed were Corey Simpson-Upmeyer, 19, of Citrus Heights; Andrey Petkov, 20, of North Highlands; Mikhail Russo, 20, of Roseville; Fred Rivera-Valdiva, 19, of North Highlands; and a 13-year-old Rocklin male juvenile. (The operation took its name from the street slang “buff,” referring to the act of covering up tags.) They were taken in by officers as part of a major bust Friday afternoon that involved Roseville Police, Union Pacific police and Placer County Probation officers. The suspects were arrested on suspicion participating in a street gang, conspiracy to commit a crime, and felony vandalism. They could face time in state prison and restitution, officials said. “SGK is dead. They’re essentially defunct,” DeFreece said after the arrests on Friday. “They’re going to be accountable for whatever damages they’ve done.” The operation comes as the city fights an epidemic of graffiti. It was frustration over responding to so many calls that led Cadet Officer Louis Dobson to focus on the group in the first place. “These guys have just been the biggest we’ve seen,” he said. “We’ve been going out to businesses, sometimes several times a month. They would just be overwhelmed.” Dobson infiltrated the group by monitoring Internet forums and MySpace messages last year, where suspected taggers discuss locations, techniques and more. Officers then spent months learning their operations. They discovered members honed their skills underneath an underpass dubbed “the bat cave” on Union Pacific property. Dank and out of sight, the walls there are covered in dozens of tags, most of them elaborate depictions of their street monikers. But the alleged perpetrators don’t keep their activities underground. Eventually, they graduate to UP train cars, businesses with road frontage, freeway overpasses, and neighborhood subdivision walls. “It seems like every time I turn around, I see something new,” said Teshara Homes, who was walking around her Crocker Ranch neighborhood with sister Stephanie Holmes this week. The walls fronting a green space are littered with broad swaths of tags believed to be connected to SGK. “It’s just rude.” “I just noticed it a couple months ago,” Stephanie Holmes said. “How trashy it looks.” On Friday, a team of about 10 officers and probation agents descended on Petkov’s North Highlands residence, where he was arrested without incident. Petkov, who uses the tag “nose” and “bape,” declined to comment as he was being led to a police car; Petkov’s father also declined to answer questions. A neighbor, Sheila Odgers, 21, said she was shocked Petkov was suspected of being involved in a tagging crew. She described him as a “good Christian” and said she remembered Petkov, whom she grew up with, as “always drawing” as a boy. “He’s not even a bad kid; maybe he’s been around the wrong people,” she said. “He goes to church. Maybe he’s just trying to have fun and wasn’t thinking.” Although the members of SGK are not considered physically dangerous, “with your property, they’re dangerous,” DeFreece said. He estimated the group had committed nearly $40,000 in property damage just inside the city limits; their alleged handiwork in surrounding Sacramento communities brings that total up to about $80,000. Officials suspect the number could be much higher. “With us doing this today, we will be closing 318 cases,” DeFreece told officers during a pre-operation briefing on Friday. They incidents are a major nuisance for property owners, who are responsible for cleaning up the vandalism at their own cost. A change to a city ordinance in January meant they foot the entire bill for clean-up, and have to do so within 10 days; previously, the city kicked in funding. “Some of them didn’t know if they’d be able to do it within 10 days,” Dobson said. DeFreece said the city’s ordinances mean police have to hold up their end of the bargain; Friday’s enforcement operation was designed to show taggers, businesses and residents that open season for graffiti is over in Roseville. “In this economy, can you imagine if you got to paint your walls again and again?” DeFreece said. The four adults were booking into the Roseville Police Department jail and held on $25,000 bond; the juvenile was taken to Placer County Juvenile Hall. FYI To report graffiti: Call 746-1021. If the graffiti is on city property, city crews will document it and clean it up within days, police said. If it is on private property, property owners are notified and asked to clean it up within 10 days. News Topics | Surenos | Home | Research | History | Blood Gangs | Crip Gangs | People | Gallery | Blog | |