Houston police say getting two people off the street may make a visible difference. They say you can see their work around town and it’s costing you a lot of money. Investigators are talking about the war on graffiti.

Dozens of Houston’s illegal artists, those that tag our city with graffiti, are now displaying their work on the internet. They include graffiti artists like Yano and Perks, young men in their 20s.

“People call us all the time and complain,” says Lieutenant Tom Roman of the Houston Police Department. “The most serious incident I can think of cost the guy $18,000 to abate his water tower.”

Lt. Roman says Yano and Perks were two of Houston’s biggest taggers. They’re calling card is “R-T-L” which stands for “refuse to lose.” Both were picked up last week, allegedly caught in the act with a fire extinguisher filled with paint. Both have been charged.
Lieutenant Roman says, “'cause they had modified a fire extinguisher to commit the act, that was possession of a criminal instrument; and that is a state jail felony. However, if they had just used a spray can, we would not have been able to charge them with that.”
Roman says graffiti artists in this city cost taxpayers quite a bit of money and it’s a huge problem.

“We started looking at the individual act and putting that together in total number in the central district,” Roman says. “(That) is just a small portion of the Inner Loop that we handle. We had 236 incidences reported to us.” And each incident, he says, takes an average of $1,000 dollars just to clean up. Citywide, authorities say, the city loses an estimated $1 million a year because of these illegal artists. They are artists that are so proud of their work, they're even showing it off on the World Wide Web.

Event One
Southside Skatepark
510 Iowa St.
Houston, Texas 77587
(713) 946-0414
event time: 8:30p.m - 12a.m.
Admission: $ 7.00 (no cover for event two if you attend event one)
straight outta Oregon....Burnside skaters are living legends and the people's heros!
represent....

Skatepark directions from Downtown:
1. take 45 south
2. exit College
3. Turn left on College
4. Turn right on Hwy. 3
5. Go 4 blocks down
6. Turn right on Iowa
*Skatepark on right hand side

Event Two
Warehouse 1
1211 Hutchins (Downtown)
Houston, Texas 77003
event time: 10:00 p.m. - 4:00a.m.
Admission: $7.00 (free if you attend event one)

live hip-hop performances... Rep'n From Philly - Lost Children of Babylon - Shipwreck - Kable Roc (Oregon)
plus...DUBTEX

Directions coming from Skatepark:
1. 45 downtown
2. Exit Downtown Destinations
3. Turn right of 59 feeder (stay on feeder)
4. Turn right on Polk
5. Turn left on Hutchins
*Warehouse on immediate right

Event Three
Warehouse 2
2023 Semmes
Houston, Texas 77026
event time: 10:00 p.m. - 4:00 a.m.
Admission: $5.00

Aerosol exhibitions by...
Pine (Oregon) - RAT - AEROSOL WARFARE - Color One - Skeez 181

Free giveaways by....HIP-HOP SMELLS, DJK, & Gotta Shine Records
For more information and specific directions for each event call
(713) 530-0142