Cops Capture Alleged Abraham Lincoln Graffiti Artist

Officers from Bensonhurst’s 62nd Precinct apprehended the man they believe to be behind the series of Abraham Lincoln graffiti that has spread across Southern Brooklyn neighborhoods, the Home Reporter reports.

“The men and women of the 62nd Precinct should be commended for a job well done,” said Community Board 11 (CB 11) District Manager Marnee Elias-Pavia told the Bay Ridge newspaper. “Graffiti is a blight on our neighborhood and it will not be tolerated.”

The suspect, a 24-year-old man, is accused of using stencils and spray paint to put the legendary president’s face on public and private property along a broad swath of Brooklyn. The images can be seen at almost every Belt Parkway overpass and subway easement, as well as on the sides of many businesses, from Mill Basin to Bay Ridge.

According to the paper, this is how the bust went down:

The suspect, wanted for illegally leaving his mark in the form of Honest Abe’s face on walls across the borough, was pulled over in a traffic stop on Friday, January 17 after failing to signal at Dahill Road and 65th Street. Cops said that the suspect, identified as 24-year-old Vladimir Bubnov, was driving with a suspended license and immediately arrested.

Upon investigation, according to police, responding officers uncovered five graffiti stencils and seven cans of spray paint in the suspect’s vehicle.

“He has been charged in four incidents, so far,” said NYPD spokesperson James Duffy.

Police announced that they were hunting the suspect during the January 9 meeting of Community Board 11. They claimed they were “closing in” on the person, who they described as a “male Hispanic wearing a blue hard hat and an orange vest with silver reflective stripes,” a description that appears to be off the mark.

The artist is believed to go by the street name AINAC, or Art Is Not A Crime, who has also spray painted the faces of fictional broadcaster Ron Burgundy andPresident Barack Obama. He may also be the person responsible for the “All you need is love” tag that is nearly as ubiquitous as the Lincoln image.

Update (July 28, 2014): Or not. The charges against the arrested were dismissed.