Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Officers take vandal off streets
NEW GARDEN >> A vandal is off the streets thanks to old-fashioned police work, combined with instincts of two Southern Chester County Regional police officers.
Police officer Raymond Sullivan observed a vehicle stopped in the northbound lane in the 9000 block of Gap-Newport Road on Dec. 14. A short time later, Sullivan observed the same vehicle stopped in the southbound lane of Sharp Road, just 100 yards south of Gap-Newport Pike.
As Sullivan approached with his patrol vehicle, the driver peeled out at a high rate of speed, disregarding the stop sign for Sharp Road and GapNewport Pike, and began traveling south on Gap-Newport Pike. Sullivan gave chase, and the driver of the vehicle swerved and crossed over the double yellow line before coming to a stop in the southbound lane of travel.
Sullivan activated his emergency lights and when he approached the driver of the car, he noticed he had wet paint on his hand and paint on his clothing. Sullivan also noticed the driver displayed signs of impairment.
The driver of the car told the officer that he stopped in the middle of the road simply to photograph the abandoned building
at 9109 Gap-Newport Pike.
Sullivan took the driver into custody for suspicion of DUI and the assisting officer, Brandon Krissinger, observed freshly painted graffiti tags, which was the same color the driver had on his hand and clothing, on the building the driver said he was about to photograph. Graffiti tags are signs of gang activity.
The officers decided to search the vehicle, and discovered a TCH vape pen and a large quantity of spray paint. A scrapbook
with the same tags were observed on the building was located in the suspect’s vehicle.
Gerald Simpson, Southern Chester County Regional police chief, said Sullivan and Krissinger looked past the traffic stop and vehicle violations and made observations that led them to believe there was more criminal activity that had occurred. Acting on instincts, he said, they investigated further and were able to apprehend an impaired driver, but a vandal.