1000 4th Ave Graffiti (Photo from: Anchorage Police Dept.) |
Anchorage police arrested prolific tagger Maximino Gonzales early Tuesday morning and charged him with posession of graffiti implements and graffiti on public property.
Police spotted a man applying graffiti near the footbridge at Tudor Road near Willowcrest around 2:30 a.m., but the suspect ran off as the officers approached him. He was found a short time later hiding in the woods nearby.
Gonzales, also known as MENO, was cited and released on both counts. His work is well-known around Anchorage and often carries a political protest theme, according to police.
"He is extremely prolific," Scott Lofthouse of the Anchorage Police Department said. "I would say, at this time, in my personal opinion, he's probably the most prolific tagger that we've had in Anchorage."
Gonzales recently had an art showing at the Mountain View Gallery, and police said his work has been featured as far away as Europe.
When police caught up with Gonzales, he told them: "This is just what I do."
