In January the West Seattle Herald showed the Admiral Theater and vicinity had become the target of taggers and vandals. One even went so far as to climb on the roof of the theater to make a massive graffiti image on the upper wall. Now, theater Manager Dinah Brein has secured photographic evidence of who is doing the damage.

NOTE: We had previously published the photos but since the suspects have not been officially charged by the police we removed the photos.

She shared this letter with the Herald:

"Yesterday, shortly after noon, I received a phone call from Rae, a resident in the condo's behind the alley. She informed me that someone had over night, tagged the businessnes in the alley including the Chevron, the Admiral, the Pizza Restaurant as well as the Copper Coin and the Mission.

I went outside and looked up and sure enough, they had also tagged the roof of the Admiral again (Chevron side).

We discussed our continued frustration that this person(s) have not been caught and continue their vandalistic attack on the community businesses.

That evening as I was leaving the theater, approximately 10:25 PM, I was called into the Chevron station by two of their employees, Francis and Andy. Another person, Dave was there who used to work at the Admiral and is now a manager at Metro Market.

Here is what they told me. On Wednesday shortly before 2:00 a.m. Andy and Dave went out to have a cigarette by the car wash. While standing there, they heard a noise, easily recognizable as a spray can being shaken. Chevron Manager, Andy stepped into the car wash area and saw two young kids getting ready to spray paint the inner side of the carwash.

He screamed at them and asked "Hey....do I need to call the police here?" They screamed no and ran off. He then walked behind the building and saw wet, fresh tagging on many of the walls.

Recognizing that they had come into the Chevron convenience store a short time earlier, Andy checked the video camera and sure enough there they were.

He says he thinks they may be high school kids but that he has seen them before. I am attaching the photos that he took off of the camera. Both Andy and Dave are willing to testify as to what they saw.

I am purposely cc'ing all of you as you have all expressed interest and concern over this never-ending problem.and hopefully together, we can move forward to find these kids and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.

I don't know if there is actual legal liability in publishing these photos in both the blog and the Herald in the hopes of someone being able to identify them. Case in point, photos of the Boston Bombers were all over the news prior to their arrests.

Although Andy chased them away before they actually painted in front of him, the fact that the other taggings were freshly painted and they had the spray cans ready and poised would be enough to publish these pictures with a big WANTED in the headline.

Detective Solomon, please advise as to what the police department and graffiti division next-steps will be in this matter. We now have something real and concrete. Let's get these guys!"

Dinah Brein
Admiral Theater Manager