WILLMAR -- Two Willmar men were arraigned Monday on felony criminal damage to property charges for their involvement in a spate of graffiti last week in downtown Willmar.
Terrance Jonathan Savoy, 19, and Phillip John Konsor, 18, both face two first-degree felony charges in Kandiyohi County District Court. Unconditional bail was set at $5,000 for each man. Conditional release was allowed on their personal recognizance, provided they have no contact with each other and a 17-year-old teen, do no tagging and be excluded from a list of downtown businesses and other locations in the city.
Both make their next court appearance on Nov. 17
According to the complaint, two Willmar police officers, who are also members of the gang enforcement team, were on patrol around 11 p.m. Oct. 28 in downtown. They observed new graffiti, other than that written by the ITT gang, which stands for "In Town Taggers." The new paint was markings from the ISI gang, which stands for "Infamous Superstars Inc."
The officers later returned to the First Street bridge and found fresh graffiti along and underneath the bridge and on the bridge pillars. The graffiti included ISI marks, cuss words, a smiley face and the word "Obama."
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The officers continued on patrol and observed graffiti on businesses in the downtown area, on an apartment building, on the city office building, a storage building and on a building along the 500 block of Benson Avenue Southeast. In each case there was ISI graffiti painted over previously made ITT marks.
On Friday, an officer met with a downtown business representative to review surveillance footage that would capture the First Street bridge. The footage showed two males exiting a vehicle and painting on the bridge. One was recognized as Savoy by officers. Another male in the footage was identified as a 17-year-old male known to authorities as an ISI member.
Konsor and Savoy were later located. The complaint notes that Konsor matches the physical description of the other male in the video footage.
Konsor allegedly admitted he, Savoy and the teen were driving around spray-painting graffiti in downtown. He said he made peace signs, the word "Obama," letters and a smiley face.
Savoy claimed he didn't know what the officer was talking about when questioned.
Both were arrested and taken to jail. Konsor said they went to a local business to purchase paint and that he drove the group around and acted as a lookout for police.
Officers received damage estimates from business owners and the city that are well in excess of $1,000. There are also numerous damage estimates pending, the complaint says.
