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SALT LAKE CITY — New criminal charges were filed Wednesday against nine people suspected of tagging Union Pacific railroad cars.
The charges come less than two weeks after Kelly Lionel Garcia, 46, who goes by the moniker "36er," was charged with 23 counts of graffiti, both first- and second-degree felonies due to the amount of damage caused. Garcia is listed as a co-defendant in at least one of the new charging documents filed Wednesday.
Six of the people charged Wednesday are also among the eight co-defendants listed in Garcia's charging documents.
All of those charged are believed to belong to various graffiti gangs who between 2013 and 2014 vandalized or "tagged" Union Pacific railroad cars and other items around Salt Lake and Tooele counties, according to charging documents.
Many of the group members would spray paint their monikers on rail cars and then take pictures of their artwork. Several of the defendants posted their graffiti on social media pages or even put framed pictures of their work in their homes, the charges state.
Matthew Shaun Olde, 39, aka, "Chew," of West Valley City; Kyle Scott Heinmiller, 28, aka "KONR," of South Jordan; Richard Daniel Sandoval, 32, aka "Peso," of Tooele; Manuel Gerardo Basulto, 33, aka "Dekoi" of Salt Lake City; Dakota Edward Stoneking, 21, aka "Safe," of South Salt Lake; Cory Ashton Rodriguez, 21, aka "Ease" and "Reptar," of Salt Lake City; Cory Michael Harris, 28, aka "Ides," of Salt Lake City; Angelo von Fridal, aka "Seja"; and Cameron Arthur Mason, 21, aka "Parol," of Draper, were all charged by the Utah Attorney General's Office with various counts of graffiti, a second-degree felony.