By Jeremy Walsh
A Woodside woman and her boyfriend who are believed to be a notorious pair of graffiti artists were arrested last week, City Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Astoria) said.
Danielle Bremner, 26, was taken into custody at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and Jim Harper, 23, was arrested at Kennedy Airport, the New York Post reported. Bremner is the most active female tagger in New York City, the Post cited a police source as saying.
Bremner and Harper, a native of Wilmette, Ill., were charged with criminal mischief and burglary for allegedly defacing Metropolitan Transportation Authority property at railyards in Manhattan between 2006 and 2008, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau's office said.
The couple was apprehended after returning from a three-month vacation in Europe, where they allegedly spray-painted their signatures in several countries, Vallone said, noting France has expressed interest in prosecuting the duo.
Police issued the warrant for Bremner after searching her apartment in Woodside earlier this summer, the Post reported.
Manhattan was the only borough to file charges by press time Tuesday, but subsequent indictments are expected from the counties of Queens, Kings and the Bronx, Vallone said.
“These two are not a couple of teenagers causing a little mischief. These are career criminals who have destroyed property all over the city, and possibly all over the world,” Vallone said.
“They are real criminals and they deserve real jail time.”
The Chicago Sun-Times inked the couple to the graffiti crew Made U Look, a Chicago-based group most notorious in New York for spray-painting an entire subway train with the slogan “cash is king” and a depiction of Rich Uncle Pennybags, the mascot of the classic board game Monopoly, in December 2006.
The indictment filed by the Manhattan DA against Bremner and Harper does not include any incidents from December 2006.
Vallone, who lobbied successfully two years ago for a six-month sentence and $25,000 fine for notorious tagger Oliver Siandre, said he had written letters to the district attorneys asking for substantial jail time.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jwalsh@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
