'Paint Bomber' makes a costly splash in Minneapolis

A prolific and elusive vandal variously tagged by officials as "The Pourer" and the "Paint Bomber" has splashed paint on dozens of walls, poles, bus shelters and other property in south Minneapolis during the past four months alone, and it's costing taxpayers and business owners a bucket-load.

The Bomber has even heaved paint-filled balloons against walls high up, making the paint more difficult and costly to remove.

According to police records, the vandal has struck 25 times in south Minneapolis since February, and residents say they spot new splashes almost every day. But apparently no one has spotted the vandal in the act; even his or her gender isn't known.

"You have to catch them doing it, and he's not leaving a signature behind," Minneapolis police Sgt. Bill Palmer said.

The department has an employee dedicated full time to investigating graffiti, but Palmer said the department needs to focus most of its resources on violent crime.

"Are we doing stakeouts on Lyndale Avenue? No," he said.

Bus shelters are one of the vandal's favorite targets.

He said the splashes and streaks have cost Metro Transit $1,600 in labor and supplies.

'Just really silly'

Patrons can view local art at Sebastian Joe's Ice Cream Cafe off W. Franklin Avenue, but what may prove to be the most expensive painting is on the outside wall, facing the street. That's where the Bomber left three giant splats of dark purple.

"I don't understand; it's just really silly," said owner Mike Pellizzer, who added that he gets hit by vandals about twice a year. He said removal will probably cost him $1,000, because he needs to rent hydraulic lifts so a painter can reach the second story.

According to neighborhood residents who follow graffiti trends, the Bomber started striking two years ago, defacing highways. But over the last year the vandal struck targets across south Minneapolis, hitting bus shelters, control boxes, businesses and structures in parks.

The city of Minneapolis has a $1.4 million budget for dealing with graffiti. On any given day, between one and three full-time employees remove paint from public and private surfaces, said Angela Brenny, the city's clean city coordinator.

In 2009, the city received reports of more than 12,500 graffiti strikes. The price of removing graffiti from individual properties has ranged from around $20 to more than $20,000.

On top of that, the Minneapolis Park Board spends between $30,000 and $50,000 yearly on graffiti cleanup, said Debra Pilger, director of environmental field services

A Loring Park crew spent several hours Thursday cleaning white paint splashes from a sidewalk and white spatters from a railing -- the payload from a paint balloon. Cleaning graffiti keeps all parks' crews from repainting more benches, buildings and pools.

"That's just a waste of resources on so many levels," Pilger said.