Accused Phoenix ‘Penis Man’ Graffiti Artist Crowdfunds Legal Fees

PHOENIX, AZ — Every biological male is born with one. But not every man goes around Tempe, Phoenix and the University of Arizona armed with a spray paint can and an intent to tag buildings, bridges, mountains — you name it — with a provocative moniker referencing the male anatomy.

Dustin Shomer, a 38-year-old Phoenix man, admits he’s responsible for some of the “penis man” graffiti tags that have been popping up for months on buildings and historic sites, portable johns and even the landmark 60-foot-tall, gold-painted "A" on Hayden Butte, locally known as “A” Mountain.

But Shomer claims he isn't the only person with what some consider a junior locker room sense of humor. Shomer also admits he is, in fact, a copycat, and is responsible for a handful of 40 similar graffiti tags.

“I’m not the original,” Shomer told the Phoenix New Times of the penis man graffiti that Tempe officials have been covering up as quickly as they can discover them. “There are hundreds of copycats with very distinctively different handwriting.”

Graffiti is an ongoing issue in Tempe, with about 300,000 tags reported in 2019 alone, said Isaac Chavira, the city’s transportation maintenance manager, in an interview with news station KNXV for a New Year’s Day report. Of those tags, about 40 had the moniker “penis man.”

Tempe police got a break in the case when a witness came forward, according to court records reviewed by the New Times.

Shomer was arrested Thursday at his west Phoenix home on suspicion of 16 counts of aggravated criminal damage, eight counts of criminal damage and one count of first-degree criminal trespassing, Tempe police spokesman Detective Greg Bacon said in a statement to the Arizona Republic.

Shomer claimed on Facebook the response by police far exceeded the severity of the crimes he’s accused of committing.

“I just spent the last 24 hours in Tempe and Phoenix police custody for spraying ‘Penis Man.’” he wrote on a neighborhood group’s Facebook page. “They raided my condo and vehicle and swarmed my entire complex in west Phoenix with 25 heavily armed SWAT officers, and pointed a silenced assault rifle in my face.

“Anyone with any doubt who the bad guys are here … be certain it is the City of Tempe, City of Phoenix, and police forces Valleywide. There is no excuse for pointing an AR-15 in the face of a nonviolent offender.”

Several Tempe police officers, a K-9 officer and four members of its tactical response unit — members of the larger special weapons and tactics, or SWAT, team — were deployed to serve a search warrant, Tempe police spokeswoman Detective Natalie Barela said in an email to Patch.

That’s normal procedure when entering a residence to serve a warrant, Barela said, adding authorities had received information “regarding potential officer safety issues related to Shomer.”

Shomer is next due in court in February, and he has started a GoFundMe campaign to cover legal fees. His goal is $10,000, and he’s raised a little over a fifth of that so far.

“I’m broke and have lost my job,” he wrote, adding that he has post-traumatic stress disorder. “I need help with legal fees to defend myself against Tempe PD.”

Emma Rens, a high school senior, told KNXV that she wasn’t offended by the graffiti but said she doesn’t like the idea of her younger siblings reading it.

“It’s more of a college kid thing,” she said. “If you want to keep it in your area, that’s fine. But for families to come out to Tempe to walk around and enjoy it, it’s not appropriate for kids, in my opinion.”

Ariany Bricno, one of Shomer’s neighbors, said he needs to “suck it up and be an adult about it.”

“We’re adults,” Bricno told news station KSAZ. “Seriously, grow up and behave like an adult."

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