Pocono News Section

Teen Charged For Graffiti Stints

Teen Charged For Graffiti Stints - Friday, January 11, 2008 at 5:25PM EST

Reported by: Jill Konopka
Friday, Jan 11, 2008 @05:25pm EST
(WILKES-BARRE, Luzerne County) Ð Wilkes-Barre police say theyÕve arrested the teen named one of Wilkes-Barre's most prominent taggers.

19-year-old Gerald Pambianco is charged with "defacing property" in three communities.
Police say Pambianco already admitted to carrying out these crimes once.
They arrested him again, for even more alleged tagging.
Wilkes-Barre police arrested 19-year-old Gerald Pambianco of Plains Township at his home Friday and charged him with 35 counts of criminal mischief.
Police say Pambianco tagged more than two dozen buildings in Wilkes-Barre, Wilkes-Barre Township and Kingston using the phrase ÒNESA.Ó
Wilkes-Barre Police Detective Robert Zavada said, "With these tags, they're like a signature and they carry with them special attributes we linked up to these different locations."
Corba Beverage on Pennsylvania Avenue was one of them.
Nick Punko is an employee, "Did you check it? Did you look at it? It's a mess. It's one big mess and I was sort of disappointed when I seen it for myself."
A mess, to the tune of $6,500.00 dollars according to police, and they say Pambianco was already "caught in the act" spray painting the same building back in July.
Detective Zavada said, "He curtailed his behavior after the summer of 07', but he was pretty active, not for long period of time, but he did a lot of work in the early part of the year."
After his initial arrest, police linked Pambianco to several other taggings. In all, authorities say he's responsible for $25,000.00 in graffiti related damage.
Punko stated, "I'd like to see him take care of the expenses. It would cost Corba to take care of building."
Police say there may be more arrests.
Detective Zavada added, "We always hope there will be more arrests".
Police don't believe any of this graffiti is gang related. They also say in addition to homeowners having to clean up the defaced property, City workers will assist in making repairs as well.
Pambianco was arraigned on the charges early Friday afternoon and released on $3,500.00 dollars unsecured bail.