Three Oshawa residents are facing mischief charges after they allegedly caused ‘incredible damage’ by spraying graffiti on GO trains.
According to Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins, the suspects boarded Toronto-bound GO trains late at night over several days and looked for an empty car before tagging and spraying paint on the interior.
Images sent to CP24 show graffiti tags on the car seats and windows. The exteriors of several train cars were also tagged.
Though the vandals were caught on security cameras, Aikins said it required undercover Durham Regional Police and GO Transit officers to stage a stakeout in order to apprehend them.
A 21-year-old man and a 28-year-old man, both of Oshawa, were arrested along with a 21-year-old Oshawa woman by undercover officers. Aikins said they were caught ‘mid-tagging.’
“Our officers worked incredibly hard on these arrests as it not only deters more illegal tagging and graffiti that costs hundreds of thousands every year but has a negative impact on our customers and residents,” Aikins said in an email.
The two male suspects have been charged with mischief over $5,000 and failure to comply with probation. The female suspect faces one count of mischief over $5,000.
All three were remanded in custody and then released on bail.
Aikins said GO Transit spent over $250,000 last year alone on removing graffiti from trains and stations.
She said all the damaged cars have since been cleaned.
“Graffiti is a city-wide problem that is not only an eye sore and unsightly but takes trains out of service while we remove the graffiti and costs a lot of money unnecessarily,” she said. “These arrests won’t completely stop graffiti across the city of course, but it does act as a deterrent.”
