$2,000 reward for conviction of graffiti artists

Boundary County Commissioners are offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of people responsible for the recent vandalism and damage to property around the county.

“We are offering this because it is very serious,” said commissioner Ron Smith.

Tuesday morning commissioners met with Bonners Ferry Police chief Rick Alonzo, Boundary County Sheriff Greg Sprungl and Jeff Gutshall superintendent of Boundary County Road and Bridge.

It isn’t hard to conceive of what graffiti they are talking about.

Class of 2011 has been tagged all over the county on private and county road signs, roadways , jersey barriers and even a billboard. Vulgar words have been used as well as graphic graffiti. 

Transportation Technician Principal, George Shutes with the State of Idaho Department of Transportation presented photos to the commissioners and law enforcement. 

“It has  now become a battle between classes of 2011, 2013 and 2014,”  Shutes said.  “We’ve had to sandblast and repaint and it has just been a mess.”

“George has been with the state for 18 years and he said this is the worst he has ever seen,” Smith said.

According to Smith, Shutes is keeping track of all the graffiti and what it costs to clean it up each time it happens.

Shutes said he would like to see the kids responsible have to clean up as part of community service.

“I think a reward would help and then if we do catch them that should be part of the restitution, the money that was paid out in reward,” Alonzo said.

Graffiti costs the tax payers a lot of money in man hours and supplies to clean up.

Gutshall said it can cost upwards of $150 to $200 to replace each sign when adding all the factors in for the replacement.

The more serious incident of vandalism is when drainage gates were removed from the Moyie Bridge. These grates were not found and have to be special made to fit the holes they cover on the bridge. These are also expensive but more crucial is the threat to human life this caused.

“Had someone hit those holes in their vehicle it could have been tragic, even throwing the vehicle over the side of the bridge,” Smith said. “That is extremely dangerous and unacceptable and something needs to be done.”

Gutshall, Alonzo, Sprungl and commissioner Dan Dinning were in agreement on this danger. The grates have been ordered and holes temporarily covered in order to protect drivers and their passengers along the bridge.

“I went with some kids to the newspaper, and radio for interviews to support the supplemental levy,” Smith said. “The tax payers came forward and said yes we will support these programs for the kids. Then right after that we get all this damage, by who we are assuming are a lot of the kids we were trying to make the supplemental happen for.”

“By no means are we saying this is the entire class, it is a few who have done this,” Smith said.  “I feel kind of let down after all we went through trying to get the levy passed.”

If more than one person comes forward with information leading to arrest and conviction then the reward will be split accordingly.

Dinning and Smith said the county will guarantee the money for the reward  but donations and community support are welcome.