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NYPD used a trick to catch a Trump-loving graffiti vandal: It built a wall

March 20, 2019 at 3:33 p.m. EDT
New York police officers hid behind a barrier they created to catch a vandal. (iStock)

Residents of Brooklyn Heights should feel safer.

Last week, members of the New York City Police Department’s Transit Division caught a criminal suspect: a 43-year-old man identified as Jamie Montemarano.

New York subways are prone to political prose, but a missive — #lovetrump scribbled on a beam in Sharpie — became a recurring problem in the Court Street subway station.

Complaints had been coming in since January, so despite the closed-circuit cameras through city stations, transit officers concocted a plan to corner the aspiring graffiti artist. They would build a wall.

With the green light, the police teamed up with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. On March 13, the agency erected a plywood barrier with an adjacent secreted room.

The plainclothes operation began three days later, NYPD Transit Chief Edward Delatorre explained on Tuesday. Neighborhood coordination officers waited behind the wall, anticipating the culprit would soon return.

And, sure enough, the Trump tagger did.

"Our man came back and put up again #lovetrump on the beam,” Delatorre said, commending his officers for charging through the trap and stopping a crime in commission.

According to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, Montemarano, who had never before been arrested, was given a ticket to appear in court. He is facing a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief and possession of graffiti instruments.

“I’d imagine he was surprised,” Delatorre said before concluding the news conference.

Unfortunately, according to ABC, the innovative approach didn’t deter another round of writing the very next day.

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