SEATTLE — Seattle police last week arrested two prolific graffiti taggers accused of causing more than $300,000 in damage citywide, according to prosecutors.
Casey Cain, 36, and Jose Betancourth, 37, were charged Monday with first-degree malicious mischief after they were found late Dec. 7 in paint-splattered clothing as they emerged from behind a Capitol Hill apartment building where police located wet graffiti and paint buckets, say the charges.
Cain uses the tagging name “Eager,” which he also has tattooed on his body, while Betancourth goes by “Satan,” say the charges. Both men are members of “BTM,” an acronym for “Big Time Mob” — a large tagging crew that operates in Seattle and Portland, the charges say.
“Graffiti tags are considered a form of artistic expression by the people who place them,” a Seattle police detective wrote in the charges. “As such, they are often unique in spelling and style so that other people will easily see that the same person is placing the same tag in multiple areas.
“Tagging also has a competitive edge to it, with taggers attempting to outperform each other in the size, placement, and visibility of their tags.”
As a result, the charges say, it’s reasonable to believe the same two people were responsible for placing the vast majority of “Eager” and “Satan” tags around the city.
A man called 911 late Dec. 7 to report people were painting graffiti on an apartment building in the 1200 block of Pine Street, according to charging papers. He later turned over to police a video he recorded of two men “actively vandalizing the building” with the letters “BTM,” the charging papers say.
An officer responding to the 911 call first encountered Betancourth, then Cain, when the men separately emerged from behind the building, according to the charges. Officers later found “a large graffiti piece” with the letters “BTM” still dripping paint and two five-gallon paint buckets nearby, the charges say.
The first officer at the scene knew “that graffiti of the tag ‘SATAN’ can be found all over the city of Seattle on damaged and vandalized structures, businesses, parks, bus stops and public buildings,” and estimated it would cost over $100,000 to repair or replace damaged property caused by Betancourth’s tag, the charges say.
Likewise, the officer knew the “tagger name ‘EAGER’ can be seen all over the city,” including on bridges and overpasses, and estimated Cain’s tag has caused more than $200,000 in damage, say charging papers.
The property manager of the Pine Street building vandalized last week told police it had cost $5,300 to recently remove similar graffiti and estimated it would cost another $5,500 dollars to remove the “BTM” tag because it appeared to cover a larger area, the charges say.
Both Cain, a Seattle resident, and Betancourth, whose last known address is in Yakima, were booked into the King County Jail early Thursday.
Cain was released Sunday after posting $10,000 bail, jail records show. But he didn’t show up for court Monday and is now wanted on a $10,000 warrant, said Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office. Cain has prior convictions for assault, graffiti and malicious mischief, charging papers say.
Betancourth — who has been wanted since 2016 on assault, kidnapping and burglary charges in an alleged attack on a Seattle woman — remains jailed in lieu of $750,000 bail for the 2016 case, plus $10,000 bail for the tagging case, records show.
A well-known gang member, Betancourth has prior felony convictions for harassment, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful imprisonment and witness tampering, according to court records.
