Judges help taggers spray city with graffiti

Graffiti is scrawled at the portal of the Muni subway on The Embarcadero in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, June 17, 2015. The District Attorney's office is filing charges against a serial tagger who it says has caused over $50,000 in damages. less Graffiti is scrawled at the portal of the Muni subway on The Embarcadero in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, June 17, 2015. The District Attorney's office is filing charges against a serial tagger who it ... more Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Judges help taggers spray city with graffiti 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Almost everything you thought you knew about graffiti tagging in the city is wrong.

It isn’t that the police can’t catch the taggers. It’s not easy, but Department of Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru says SFPD is booking more taggers than ever.

It isn’t that the district attorney’s office is refusing to prosecute. George Gascón’s office is stalking the worst offenders, putting together cases and getting them in front of a judge.

And that is where everything breaks down. Just ask Gideon Kramer, a former member of the Anti-Graffiti Task Force and a Mission District antitagging crusader.

“Unless the judges take it seriously, nothing happens,” he said. “They look at all the things on their calendar and they just want to get it off. I think judges tend to be woefully ignorant when it comes to this.”

And for those members of the judiciary who might think that sounds harsh or unfair, we have a golden opportunity for you to make it right. At 9 a.m. on Wednesday, 18-year-old Andrew Yarbrough will appear before Judge Brendan Conroy at the Hall of Justice.

You might not know Yarbrough by name, but I’ll bet you’ve seen his tags, “Cryst” and “Sheep.” They are everywhere.

“Our crews chased this guy up and down Market Street for more than two months,” said DPW spokeswoman Rachel Gordon. “He tags lampposts, mailboxes and private property. It is constant and insidious. He’s definitely a serial tagger.”

In fact, the D.A.’s office says Yarbrough is responsible for nearly $50,000 in damage. Not that he’s concerned. Unrepentant doesn’t begin to describe him. Booked by police after getting caught in the act and charged with 10 felonies (a felony is damage over $400) and 25 misdemeanors, Yarbrough was sent to court, where a judge set a court date and released him on his own recognizance.

He promptly went out and was charged with tagging six more locations.

So with that lack of respect, you can bet Judge Conroy will nail him with the full force of the law, right?

Not really.

In fact, Conroy is already hinting that he will reduce the charges down to misdemeanors, which probably means virtually no punishment.

It’s an old story, Kramer says. When he was on the Graffiti Task Force, he and an SFPD abatement officer brought more than 20 of the worst offenders to court and then watched as judges dismissed cases or let suspects go with no consequences.

After that, Kramer said he went to the presiding judge and suggested that one judge handle all graffiti cases, so when a tagger reoffended, the judge would know the history.

“Everybody smiled and said it was a great idea,” Kramer said. “But nothing happened.”

The D.A.’s office has had it. They get the heat from the public for constant, blatant tagging, but don’t feel supported when they bring cases to court.

“When certain offenders are disproportionately responsible for numerous acts of vandalism, the consequences of that behavior have to be greater,” spokesman Alex Bastian said in a statement. “This is a simple concept that most people understand. However, it is important that our San Francisco judges also get that message loud and clear.”

One mystery is the sympathy for the taggers. San Francisco has become a destination city for spray-paint vandals, who hit a building, then photograph or video the tag and post it on graffiti websites. Some of them justify it by implying they are striking a blow for social justice.

Yarbrough apparently fancies himself a kind cultural warrior. Interviewed by KTVU-TV, he said “cryst” is for crystal meth and “sheep” is for the “conformist, gentrification s—.”

So he’s actually expressing a political view? Take a look at whom he’s targeting.

Dr. Kathleen Kennedy is one of the owners of “For Your Eyes Only” optometry on Castro Street. When she celebrated their 25th anniversary in the location, Kennedy says, she decided to get a new awning for the doorway.

She consulted with a graphic designer, discussed the type fonts and installed an attractive new awning at a cost of $3,200. It was tagged with “Cryst” almost immediately.

“It was outrageous, just a feeling in the pit of your stomach,” she said. “I called the awning company and they came out, but they said you can’t fix it. Either do it all over or try painting. So we did, and it was a couple of hundred dollars to paint it, but it looks tacky, to be honest. It was such a bummer.”

That’s a familiar story to Nuru, whose crews paint over “Cryst” daily.

“This guy has hurt a lot of people, defacing someone’s property for the fun of it,” he said. “It would be nice if the judges put this up to a higher level. There should be consequences.”

If not for the taggers, then perhaps for the judges who treat tagging like it is a teenage prank. Kennedy says if nothing happens in court next week, she has a question for Conroy.

“Hey, judge,” she said. “Are you going to pay for my awning?”

C.W. Nevius is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. E-mail: cwnevius@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @cwnevius