One of the University students whose residence hall rooms were
searched Tuesday by police looking for graffiti-related items has been arrested and cited with five counts of second-degree criminal mischief and one count of second-degree criminal tespass, Eugene police said.
Sam Vinstein, 18, and Ryan Hammond, 19, had their Ganoe Hall
rooms searched because police believed the men might be responsible for graffiti-related crimes, Eugene Police Department officer Dallas Hall said.
Vinstein was cited Wednesday in Eugene Municipal Court for the criminal mischief charges, which each carry a $505 fine, and for the trespassing charge, a $255 fine, Hall said.
Hammond was charged with possessing less than an ounce of marijuana, Hall said.
When officers searched the rooms of Vinstein, a self-described graffiti artist, and Hammond, neither was present. The men turned themselves in Wednesday.
“I really appreciated Mr. Vinstein and Mr. Hammond coming forward and identifying themselves,” Hall said. “Especially Mr. Vinstein coming forward and being up front about what he does. That made a big difference.”
Vinstein and Hammond were arrested April 15 and cited for unlawful possession of a graffiti implement and unlawful application of graffiti after the two were caught creating a graffiti piece in West Eugene, Hall said.
Hall said she recognized from a police report photo that the artwork matched another graffiti piece at The 66 Motel on East Broadway.
“It was a distinctive piece,” Hall said. “It appeared to be more complex than what we normally see here. The colors were quite vibrant.”
Police said Vinstein’s primary tag is the word “Chaser” in a highly styled form. Other tags Vinstein has used include “Señor Chaser,” “LA,” “CH91” and “Pluser” on adhesive stickers, police said in a press release.
Vinstein said he believes he is an artist who doesn’t have an outlet to express his art.
“Beyond being a graffiti writer, I’m an artist,” Vinstein said. “Anything I do as art they automatically say is graffiti.”
But Hall said “whether it’s interpreted as art, graffiti, whatever you want to call it, the bottom line is if you don’t own that piece of property, you don’t have the right to paint it.”
Vinstein, Hammond and police discussed with the Emerald details of Tuesday’s search.
Police served a search warrant simultaneously in the men’s rooms
Tuesday, but only Vinstein’s roommate, Max Bornstein, 19, was present at the time, Hall said.
Bornstein said he had been asleep when EPD officers came to his room and banged on the door.
“I thought it was a dream,” Bornstein said.
The police entered and told him to lie down on the ground, Bornstein said.
“The male cop pulled out a gun ‘because I wasn’t all the way down,’ he said,” he said. “I was on my knees. “I was slow to do it because I was half asleep.”
He was handcuffed for approximately 30 minutes while officers searched the room, Bornstein said.
Hall said standard procedure for police is to have their guns drawn when serving a search warrant.
“When we enter a room, we’re always armed and always prepared for whatever we might find,” Hall said.
Police seized spray-paint cans, clothing, stereo equipment, computers, cell phones, iPods and posters, among other items, the men said.
“Anything that has graffiti on it or in it, stored in any manner, is something that police officers are going to seize in a search warrant because we’re looking for evidence of a graffiti crime or anything used to create graffiti,” Hall said.
Police also seized a painting Vinstein had created at the request of his residence hall adviser, he said. The painting, which reads “diversity defined,” was hung in the ground-floor window of the courtyard near Ganoe Hall and was meant to encourage residents to get involved in the debate surrounding the University Diversity Plan, Vinstein said.
Hall said the police investigation is ongoing, and more charges could be filed later if evidence is found here or in California, where Vinstein is originally from.
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