Batavia police hope photo leads to action on graffiti tagging in city, forest preserves

BATAVIA – The man is wearing a light green T-shirt, black ball cap on backwards, sunglasses perched on his forehead above his eyes, a dark brown goatee and slight stubble on his jawline and neck.

He is looking over his shoulder while standing next to purple and white graffiti.

If you recognize him, call the Batavia Police Detective Division at 630-454-2500 or the Kane County Forest Preserve Police at 630-232-5980.

Batavia police posted the photo on their Facebook page, calling him a person of interest in connection with incidents of graffiti tagging in the city.

“We are not saying he’s a suspect or anything like that,” Sgt. Gary La Barbera said. “This is a person of interest. … Once we figure out who it is, we can have a conversation.”

Batavia areas have been tagged since September with a marker or paint marker to write P1-76 with an arrow pointing downward in dark blue or black, La Barbera said.

The graffiti in the photo, done in white, appears to be a female symbol with a tail that crosses a straight line to the right and goes through the top of a capital M. A squiggle and an arrow point down from the straight line. To its left is something purple with white outline and a white square near the top. The bottom is obscured.

The Kane County Forest Preserves in the unincorporated part of Batavia Township has also reported graffiti about the same time as Batavia started experiencing it, La Barbera said.

Forest Preserve Police Chief Paul Burger said the photo is a still shot from a video at Fabyan East on the walkway bridge over the Fox River. Burger said a citizen took video of the man in the photo in the act of doing the graffiti.

“They witnessed and videotaped it for us,” Burger said. “The officer went out and took a police report and recovered the video as evidence.”

Graffiti in the forest preserve has been a problem for 18 months, Burger said.

“I was a police officer for 26 years. Graffiti is always ongoing,” Burger said. “Depending on the frequency and kind of signature they leave – and eyewitness accounts – is what helps us catch the person.”