Vandals caught on video spray-painting bridge

SEATTLE — Police said two men vandalized Seattle's First Avenue South bridge on Sept. 11.

A bridge worker spotted them just after midnight. Then a Department of Transportation traffic camera was zoomed in for a closer look. It could clearly record the vandals shaking a can of spray paint, then marking up walls, windows and doors on the bridge.

The DOT called in the State Patrol. As a trooper approached with a red light flashing, the vandals took off on bikes. One got away down a bike trail. The other was arrested in Georgetown.

A trooper identified him as 18-year-old T'Kope Steiner-Schlede. He's accused of malicious mischief, failing to obey a police officer who ordered him to stop, and possessing a small amount of marijuana.

Steiner-Schlede bills himself as a musician/producer on the Internet and a fan of the Grateful Dead.
KIRO was unable to contact him at his Seattle home.

The State Patrol will refer the vandalism case to the county attorney for prosecution. The maximum penalty for malicious mischief is up to a year in jail.

The state considers vandalism a serious problem. DOT spokesman Bart Treece estimates that in the Seattle-Tacoma area alone, $200,000 are spent each year to clean up graffiti.

"That's $200,000 that we can use to patch potholes or do other kinds of maintenance activities that make a real difference for traffic," he said. 

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