Man Arrested For Arlington Graffiti Incident, Suspect In Others

ARLINGTON, MA — Police say they caught a Somerville man red blue-handed Friday and charged him with tagging an Arlington building and receiving stolen property.

His arrest came a day before at least seven other reports of graffiti tagging were reported around town. Police said Jose Nunez, 33, of Somerville is considered a suspect in those separate ongoing investigations.

What happened Friday: A man working on Mystic Street looked out the second floor window Friday night around 10 p.m. when he said he saw a man he didn't know on the property. He went downstairs and outside to ask the man what he was doing. When he got downstairs he saw the man, later identified as Nunez, had started walking away and in the area where he'd been, there was fresh blue spray paint on the wall of the building. The worker caught up to Nunez and asked him if he'd spray painted the building, to which Nunez allegedly responded "I don't know."

At this point, the worker said he noticed blue paint on Nunez's hands, so he asked him to go with him to the police station.

The two men walked across the street and into the lobby of Police Headquarters where they sat down to talk with police officers. Police said it was clear that Nunez had fresh blue paint on his hands, according to the police report. They also found a black can of paint and a blue can of paint in his backpack. When they asked him why he'd graffiti'ed the building, he allegedly said he had nothing else to do.

After police arrested him they discovered earrings worth about $12 still in their package in his pockets during a pat down, they asked him where he stole them from to which he allegedly responded CVS.

Nunez was charged with Defacing Property (Tagging) and Receiving Stolen Property (Subsequent Offense).

Previously on Patch:

Graffiti Spree In Town: Arlington Police

Image courtesy Arlington Police report.