Boston graffiti crackdown leads to felony charges against three taggers

Boston police arrested three prolific graffiti taggers in late July, and charged each of them with felonies.

The arrests stemmed from residents’ requests to crack down on what they see as persistent vandalism. Some of the alleged taggers’ handiwork is said to be at the T’s Green Street and Forest Hills stations as well as on the Boston University and Longfellow bridges.

The trio charged face up to three years in state prison on each felony count. They might also each have to pay a fine of $1,500, or three times the value of the property they tagged.

Interestingly, the arrests and charges appear to stem from police investigations. As a police spokeswoman told Globe correspondent Marek Mazurek, the three were some of the city’s most “prevalent and notorious” taggers, suggesting they were on cops’ radar for a while.

The arrests also signal a general Boston police crackdown on prolific graffiti.

• Police crack down on high-profile graffiti taggers with felony charges [Globe]