Masked taggers film themselves attacking city train
Taggers with black masks, some wearing Go Pro cameras, attacked a train in Auckland yesterday, detaining it for about 15 minutes at a station while they applied paint.
The doors remained open throughout the attack at the Puhinui Station, leading to a strong smell of fumes from the spray paint.
Passenger Jacob McConachie-Grant said at least five young men were involved in the incident.
They entered the area of the train tracks through a hole in a wire fence and got to work on that side of the train, painting, McConachie-Grant believed, most of the carriages.
He said some had the hoods of their tops up around their heads, while others obscured their faces with bandannas. Some had Go-Pro- type cameras on their heads and one camera was set up on a tripod apparently to film the tagging.
Some passengers, annoyed at the delay, temporarily left the train intending to confront the taggers, but were prevented by security officers from doing so.
An Auckland Transport spokesman said two of the three carriages in the train had been tagged. The train later went to the Wiri train depot to be washed.
“It appears the offenders cut the fence opposite the train platform.
“This vandalism is totally unacceptable and is a cost to the ratepayers of Auckland.
“We will work with the police on this and all vandalism issues.”
— Martin Johnston