NEWARK, NJ — A 53-year-old man has been arrested in connection with multiple graffiti incidents at businesses throughout the city.
Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda, Sr., announced the arrest of Koreem Fields, of Newark, on Sunday.
On January 4, a resident of an apartment building at Jacob Street near Springfield Avenue reported observing two males spray-painting graffiti on the exterior wall of the building through a Ring camera.
The two males fled the scene northbound toward 16th Avenue.
Members of the Newark Police Environmental, Graffiti, and Vice Crimes Task Force launched an investigation following this incident and other complaints from business owners who were being held financially responsible for removing graffiti from their properties under a city ordinance.
Task Force detectives determined that graffiti incidents had occurred along a half-mile stretch of Stuyvesant Avenue, between Rockland Terrace and Underwood Street.
Business owners reported that after covering up the graffiti, it later reappeared on their properties in a different color, generating subsequent citations.
Task Force detectives shared photos of the suspect’s graffiti signature with the NYPD’s Vandalism Task Force, which identified Fields as a suspect.
Newark detectives obtained a search warrant for Field’s social media page, “HISTORYOFVIOLENCE8”, which displayed the same graffiti tag observed on Stuyvesant Avenue.
Detectives recovered video footage from the suspect’s social media page showing him committing graffiti in the 100 block of Stuyvesant Avenue.
Fields faces charges of conspiracy and criminal mischief.
