S.F. cops say they caught prolific tagger 'Cryst’ admiring his own work

An 18-year-old San Francisco man was arrested Thursday for allegedly painting his “Cryst” signature in many parts of the city. An 18-year-old San Francisco man was arrested Thursday for allegedly painting his “Cryst” signature in many parts of the city. Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close S.F. cops say they caught prolific tagger 'Cryst’ admiring his own work 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

One of San Francisco’s most prolific graffiti vandals was arrested Thursday while taking admiring photos of his work in Dolores Park, authorities said.

For months, police have been trying to track down the tagger, now alleged to be San Francisco resident Andrew Yarbrough, 18, who has painted his hallmark “Cryst” signature and other etchings from the Mission District to Treasure Island.

“This guy has tagged businesses, people’s homes, public property, Muni stuff, a lot of city property,” said police Capt. Dan Perea. “There are thousands and thousands of dollars worth of damage done by this one person … We’re very happy that we grabbed this guy.”

Police caught up with Yarbrough after someone phoned police to report tagging along upper Market Street at about 11 a.m Thursday, Perea said. Officers didn’t find anyone matching the suspect’s description, so they went to nearby areas that had been hit with graffiti recently.

Near the tennis courts at Dolores Park, where vandalism has occurred at a city-run improvement project, officers spotted Yarbrough taking pictures of a wall with his cell phone, Perea said. He was positively identified by the caller on Market Street as being the same person tagging earlier, according to Perea.

Police detained Yarbrough and found that a bag he was carrying was filled with “multiple containers of different kinds of paint,” Perea said. Authorities say their follow-up investigation linked Yarbrough to several other taggings.

He was arrested on suspicion of 27 counts of vandalism, and has since been released from jail. The district attorney’s office said Friday that it plans to look at the evidence and make a decision next week on whether to charge Yarbrough.

While in custody, Yarbrough was asked by a KTVU reporter why he used the tag “Cryst.” He responded, “Crystal meth.” Asked why he often painted the word “Sheep,” he said he was referring to “conformity and gentrification.”

Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander