Graffiti suspect tagged with a felony charge

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man accused of tagging Sandpoint City Hall, police cars, the courthouse and a number of businesses with graffiti was ordered held Thursday on $50,000 bail.

Kyle Lee Jones is charged with malicious injury to property at the felony level.  A preliminary hearing is pending in the magistrate division of 1st District Court.

Judge Barbara Buchanan appointed a public defender to represent Jones, who is unemployed and already on probation for other offenses.

Jones, a Sandpoint Police report said, denies involvement in the graffiti spree.

Jones, 20, is accused of using spray paint to scrawl profanity and cryptic lettering and numerals in at least a dozen locations around town this week, according to police reports. In addition to the public buildings and property, Jones’ illegal handiwork also showed up at Belwood’s Furniture, the Bristlecone Apartments, Coffelt Funeral Service, the Cycle Haus, Lake Pend Oreille High School and Lumberman’s, the reports said.

Charging papers, however, list only one graffiti site — the apartment and professional office complex at Superior Street and Olive Avenue, which is located behind City Hall.

Under Idaho law, vandalism rises to the felony level when damages exceed $1,000. If convicted, Jones faces one to five years in prison.

The graffiti was discovered on Wednesday. By the end of the day, officers had easily cracked the case through informants, statements from witnesses who allegedly admitted chauffeuring Jones to some of the graffiti sites and physical evidence, the police reports said.

Video surveillance at the courthouse captured an image of a person spray painting the building and the perpetrator wore a jacket with an insignia which matched a coat in Jones’ possession, one of the reports indicated. The tread patterns on the soles of Jones’ shoes also reportedly matched impressions left in the snow at the Bristlecone.