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‘Shorty 140’ graffiti tagger arrested: report

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Laser Burners/Flickr Creative Commons

They got Shorty.

A graffiti artist famous among local authorities for leaving his “Shorty 140” tag on Queens overpasses has been arrested, according to a published report.

Alberto R. Rodriguez, 33, who has lived in College Point and Long Island at various times, has been charged with criminal mischief and the felony crime of making graffiti, according to Newsday.

Police eventually nabbed Rodriguez on Dec. 3 after picking him up in a DWI case and charged him with the graffiti crimes, the paper reported. They were able to catch him through surveillance and a database that logs graffiti tags throughout the city.

One of the “Shorty 140” tags that police collected, according to am New York, included the words “RIP John Gotti” along the Cross Island Parkway.

Rodriguez has long been a thorn in the side of police and community leaders, angry over his ever-present graffiti on highway overpasses. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton once fumed that seeing Shorty 140’s tag on graffiti while traveling to and from the Hamptons on weekends drove him out of his mind, according to a report in Newsday.

In addition to continuing his graffiti spree, Rodriguez has also developed a cult following as a rapper in recent years.

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