New Castle County Police Department : NEWS RELEASE

March 30, 2009 Teen Linked to Multiple Graffiti Crimes, 24 Charges


New Castle County Police have arrested Christopher Lewis, an 18 year old male who resides in the unit block of Avignon Drive in Newark, DE. He has been linked to at least eight separate incidents where he spray painted graffiti and “slashed” the tires of several cars in the greater Newark and Bear areas.

On Saturday (3/28) morning, County Police began receiving multiple reports of cars and homes that had been damaged by someone painting profane words with spray paint. Many of the cars that were painted also sustained damage by the suspects who “slashed” a number of tires.

During the course of this investigation, Officer Richard Blackston handled a graffiti case that occurred at a home in the unit block of Corbitt Circle in Bear. Blackston was able to identify a Frenchtown Woods teen named Christopher Lewis and a 17 year old female from Deerborne Woods as possible suspects.

As the investigation progressed, police determined two other similar crimes that occurred in the communities of Summit View and Robscott Manor. In each case, Christopher Lewis was known to the victims as a former classmate at the Glasgow High School.

Based on this information, officer obtained and executed a search warrant at Lewis’ home. Police located evidence at the home that linked Lewis to a theft from a vehicle that had occurred on Wednesday (3/25) in the Chelsea on the Square Apartments.

Lewis was arrested early this morning after police have linked him to at least eight of the crimes. The investigation has revealed Lewis targeted the homes of previous and current high school students who were former classmates of his at the Glasgow High School.

Lewis has been charged with graffiti crimes that have occurred in the following addresses:

The unit block of Elk Lane in Newark--two cars painted, tires slashed and home defaced with graffiti, $1,300 in damage
The 1000 block of Firethorn Lane in Newark--car painted with graffiti, tires slashed, and $900 in stolen property from car and $800 in damage
The 100 block of Boyer Drive in Newark-- home was damaged by graffiti, $1,000 in damage
The 500 block of E. Hanna Drive in Newark—two cars damaged by graffiti and tires slashed on one, home damaged by graffiti, $1,500 in damage
The 200 block of Palermo Drive in Newark—THIS HOME WAS TARGETTED TWICE—the first crime occurred on March 25. In this case, a car and the front door of the home were spray painted with graffiti, $1000, in damage. On March 28, a different car was painted with graffiti and all four tires were slashed, total damage $1,500.
The 100 block of Country Side Lane in Bear—a car was damaged by “keying” or scratching the paint, an unknown black liquid was poured on the car and all four tires were slashed, $1,000 in damage.
On March 25, police investigated a theft from a car that occurred in the unit block of the Four Seasons Parkway. In this case, Lewis is accused of breaking out a window and stealing a car stereo and CDs. The damage was $200 and the amount of property stolen was valued at $425. The victim’s stereo in this case was recovered during the search warrant of Lewis’ home.

Christopher Lewis has been arraigned and released on $24,000 unsecured bail and ordered to have no contact with any of the victims. Addition arrests in this case are expected.


Christopher Lewis