Williamsburg Restaurant Owner Fed Up After Vandals Tag His Property…Again

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -  A Brooklyn restaurant owner is saying enough is enough after he tried forgiving vandals who tagged his property almost two years ago.

But as CBS2's Cindy Hsu reports, that approach didn't work and his plan has backfired.

A couple of graffiti "grinches" were caught on video Christmas night 2012 tagging the outside of the Action Burger restaurant in Williamsburg.

Days later, CBS2 spoke with the owner, Vlane Carter, who had an unusual deal for the suspects. Instead of getting them locked up, he said if they turned themselves in, he would invite them inside to show their work on the walls of his restaurant, which is all about comic books.

Carter was hoping it would be a chance for the taggers to turn their lives around.

"Draw something on paper, that's nice and pleasant; let's see how good you are when we challenge them," he said.

However, the suspects never took the challenge and nearly two years later, Carter is facing the same frustration after a vandal tagged his restaurant again.

He had just paid a graffiti artist $1,000 to paint a mural on the side of the restaurant.  Days later, a vandal spray-painted right over one of the characters.

"I was very upset when I saw it because I've never seen a mural graffitied over," Carter said. "It's like a code with artists and that's just something you don't do."

The vandal was caught on surveillance video, but the video turned out very dark.

Those who live in the area say they are disappointed.

"So disrespectful and thoughtless," Diana Gasperoni said.

"I just think it's somebody's property, it's disgusting," Daniel Gomez said.

Carter says he's given up on trying to make a deal with vandals.

"I think he should just go to jail," he said. "Let him graffiti inside of the jail walls on his wall in there."

Whether it was the same person or not, Carter plans to install bright lights outside the place to discourage any more tagging.

The crime is a misdemeanor, punishable with a fine, or up to a year in jail.

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