Instagram Brags Land Artist in Jail
Graffiti writer Peter Podsiadlo, aka SEMP or @semp516 on Instagram, was arraigned on 23 felony counts of vandalism in Queens Criminal Court yesterday.
Graffiti writer Peter Podsiadlo, aka SEMP or @semp516 on Instagram, was arraigned on 23 felony counts of vandalism in Queens Criminal Court yesterday, reports the New York Post.
The artist’s bragging on Instagram — the account has since been deleted — attracted the attention of the NYPD’s vandal squad, which had been monitoring the writer’s online activity after he was arrested back in March for possessing graffiti instruments.
A source told the Post that Podsiadlo is “one of the more prodigious taggers in the city … This guy was asking for it, advertising it so blatantly online.”
The newspaper reports that there’s been a 15% increase in graffiti-related complaints in New York this year, while graffiti-related arrests have jumped 11% in the same period.
