shameless self promotion Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 Hey guys, just found out that mook got caught today..heres some info.. 'Mook' arrested at last, police say Friday, November 02, 2001 By Timothy McNulty, Post-Gazette Staff Writer Pittsburgh police have finally arrested a man they believe is the daredevil graffiti writer Mook who for three years has taunted city officials by painting his name on bridges and underpasses. Police arrested Michael J. Monack, 18, on Halloween night outside the house where he lives with his grandmother on 15th Street on the South Side. The arrest ended months of cat-and-mouse games between Mook and city officials, in which the graffiti writer scaled heights, such as a tower on the 10th Street Bridge, to paint "Mook" where it was difficult for public works crews to clean it off. He often left teasing messages for the "Graffiti Busters" crews and last month took the taunts to another level when he etched his tag name with acid into the window of a Graffiti Busters truck. The prank infuriated city officials and spurred an investigation by police from the South Side station. On Oct. 16, after getting a search warrant, police searched Monack's room in the South Side home owned by his grandmother, Betty Schemonitz. Inside were bags of spray paint cans, newspaper articles about Mook, a Mook hat and a glass aquarium with Mook etched in the glass. Apparently none of those items were enough to arrest Monack on criminal mischief charges for graffiti-writing. But three railroad "no trespassing" signs, from Conrail and Union Pacific, were also in the room, and police judged them to be stolen property. A criminal complaint said Monack was supposed to turn himself in on the stolen property charges Oct. 19 but fled the area instead. Late Tuesday, police caught him in a car outside his grandmother's house, charged him with three counts of receiving stolen property and took him to Allegheny County Jail. City Magistrate Dan Butler set his bail at $1,575. A hearing on the charges was set for the morning of Nov. 8. At his arraignment yesterday, Monack said little and hunched over with his hands plunged into a black hooded sweatshirt. Asked by reporters how to pronounce his tag name, Monack first joked that they should refer to him merely as "the accused." He then said "Mook" is pronounced with a long "oo," as in the word "tool." Public Works Director Guy Costa said yesterday he hoped Monack would receive a stiff sentence, to send a message to other would-be graffiti writers. "He's been a real nuisance to us for a lot of years and cost us a lot of money," Costa said. "We're not going to tolerate this." Costa said some 75 Mook tags have been cleaned by city crews, at a cost of $15,000. Deputy Mayor Sal Sirabella said police are also poised to crack down on "VK" and "Jane," two other graffiti writers who have tagged city properties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox Mulder Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 that dude vk better watch out it sounds like the cops have really done their homework. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Rage- Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 If each member of 12oz. had pitched in 8 bucks we could have bailed him out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suburbian bum Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 it costed crews an average of 200 bucks to clean up each of his tags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HESHIANDET Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 youngins take heed this just goes to show you. keep your mouth shut and everything wil be ok. out of all the shit they found they were only able to charge him w/ recieving stolen property. this is actually pretty funny. i mean it sucks homeboy got arrested, but the newspaper printing the story is like a big fuck you. they totally blew his spot and tried to make it seem like he got bagged for writing. but he didn't woo hooo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suburbian bum Posted November 3, 2001 Share Posted November 3, 2001 im sure he knew the cops were comeing cause there was a newspaper article before that said they knew he lived with his grandma, he should of ditched everything.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest platapie Posted November 3, 2001 Share Posted November 3, 2001 200$ to clean one tag? i dont no if that sounds a lil kooky to yo uguys but it does to me. i mean theres a lot of money going sumwhere that its not sapose to be going or should be going to. i think the govermment should look in to more shi tlike that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox Mulder Posted November 3, 2001 Share Posted November 3, 2001 platapie it costs 200$ because they have to call a crew out there. they have to pay for the equipment, they have the pay the workers, i'm sure they enter all the info in some type of database and get a picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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