LAWRENCE — A 16-year-old boy has admitted to scrawling graffiti all over new tennis courts behind South Lawrence East School, police said.
The vandalism, which included the word "Roundukes," was spotted Friday afternoon by Lawrence High School Safety Officer Jennifer Delaney.
Delaney recognized the graffiti from a spiral notebook and other items she confiscated from a student at the high school and knew who police should be looking for in connection with the vandalism.
Police said the boy, a resident of East Dalton Street, was questioned yesterday and confessed to plastering the graffiti all over the tennis courts behind South Lawrence East School and nearby Sullivan Park.
The boy was arrested and charged with tagging and malicious destruction of property. It's unclear how much cleaning up the graffiti will cost or what penalties the teen could face. The case will be heard in Juvenile Court.
Police Chief John Romero said the graffiti was recognized due to a school anti-gang program at the schools.
Delaney found the tennis court graffiti around 1 p.m. Friday and reported it to Paul Rossi, the police officer assigned to South Lawrence East.
In her report Friday, Delaney said the teen had claimed to being the leader of a South Lawrence gang called Da Blok, whose members live "in or around the Stadium Project area," and attend South Lawrence East or the high school.
Rossi said he had also dealt with the same student when he was involved in fights and other disturbances in the high school and South Lawrence East areas, according to a police report.
Police took pictures of the graffiti and matched it to the notebook drawings previously seized from the suspect.
He was interviewed yesterday at the high school with his mother and a school principal present. He said a fellow gang member gave him the "Roundukes" nickname.
The teen was shown pictures of the graffiti, some of which he acknowledged were his own.
His mother also recognized photos and said "that it looks like what he does," according to a police report.
The teen said he was recently involved in a fight with a rival gang member and is no longer a member of Da Blok.
But he said he occasionally "hangs out" with Da Blok members.
