CMU, Mount Pleasant police use 'joint effort' to identify graffiti suspect


Two local police departments have collaborated to identify a suspect in a series of graffiti incidents in Mount Pleasant dating back to 2014.

The Mount Pleasant Police Department has dealt with more than 20 graffiti incidents in the city this summer, said Officer Jeff Browne. That is not counting incidents on Central Michigan University's campus.

Lt. Cameron Wassman with the CMU Police Department said there have been six instances of graffiti on campus since 2014.

“There is the thought that all these incidents are being committed by the same person," Wassman said.

In what Browne called a "joint effort," the two departments worked together to identify a suspect.

The Isabella County Prosecutor's Office is reviewing reports and will decide if charges should be issued, Browne said. The suspect's name is being withheld until arraignment, Browne said.

A price tag for damage is "hard to gauge" due to people washing the graffiti off or replacing siding, Browne said. Businesses, neighborhoods, fences, houses, siding and dumpsters were damaged —some permanently, he said.

“It’s been a lengthy investigation," Browne said. "Our detective and CMU personnel did a wonderful job of figuring it out and getting the suspect.”

Graffiti on CMU property has been spotted in north campus in the area of Bellows Street, Wassman said. Video surveillance aided in identifying a suspect, Wassman said.

Central Michigan Life has contacted the office of Isabella County Prosecutor Risa Hunt-Scully for more information.

Share: 

About Evan Sasiela

Evan Sasiela is the University Editor at Central Michigan Life and a senior at Central Michigan ...

View Posts by Evan Sasiela →