A pair of juveniles was arrested in connection with a burst of gang-related graffiti that damaged several garages and vehicles on the south side of town last month. And according to a department report on the case, one of the suspects is on the cusp of becoming a gang member.
Between June 10 and June 11, residents along the 1000 blocks of Circle Avenue, Hannah Avenue and Beloit Avenue reported to police that the letters “TSN” had been spray painted in black across their property. The acronym is a reference to 26 Nation, an area gang. Neighbors also found “4CH” scrawled in the same fashion, referring to the Four Corner Hustlers.
Police immediately suspected a group of juveniles who had been caught vandalizing other items in the village with the tag for the Insane Satan Soldier Nation. The kids initially denied any involvement, according to a department report, but later confessed when confronted with witness statements that the children had asked a neighbor for the spray paint to touch up their bicycles.
One of the juvenile suspects reportedly had black spray paint on his hands when authorities arrived at his house to question him. That suspect allegedly told police that a friend of his is a member of the Four Corner Hustlers and that he was tagging various properties as part of an initiation into the gang.
“The two got some spray paint from a white guy in his garage,” police said in a written summary of that suspect’s statements. “They then went and sprayed several garages and two cars. [The suspect] related he knew for sure that one car was a white Mustang.”
The second suspect arrested in connection with the graffiti allegedly told authorities he only sprayed the letters for 26 Nation while his friend used the Four Corner Hustlers tag. According to a department report, that juvenile said he participated because his friend threatened to have members of the Four Corner Hustlers gang beat him.
Both suspects were charged with criminal defacement and will be tried in the juvenile court system.
