
Portland's streets have become a tableau for Jerry A. Mijangos, a 27-year-old California man dubbed by authorities as one of the city's most notorious graffiti vandals. Mijangos faces a fresh wave of indictments as the Portland Police Central Precinct Neighborhood Response Team (NRT), alongside the Multnomah County District Attorney's Strategic Prosecution and Services Unit, netted him once more after a series of investigations. According to Portland Police, the suspect has been linked to a relentless spree of over a hundred graffiti tags across Portland over the last two and a half years.
Authorities first caught up with Mijangos's illicit activities in November 2021, leading to his arrest and immediate charge with two counts of Criminal Mischief in the First Degree and one count of Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree. Despite his release shortly after, due to Multnomah County's booking policies at the time, Mijangos fell into old habits and was once again cited for graffiti in April 2022—only to be indicted on additional cases later in January 2024 following a probation violation.
The continuous cycle of arrest and release seemed to have a magnetism that Mijangos couldn't resist, as he was caught indulging in his compulsion repeatedly even in the months following his plea agreement and probation sentence in April 2023. Recently updated police reports reflect Mijangos's unrelenting attachment to his graffiti, with the NRT attributing nine new cases to him just between May and June of 2023. In response, law enforcement remained steadfast, evolving their efforts to trace and gather evidence on the flurry of tags left in his wake.
The extensive body of tags attributed to the serial vandal ranges from the audacious scrawls on freeway overpasses to the less conspicuous markings on bridge viaduct support columns. The most recent series of cases has led to Mijangos being held in custody as he now faces additional legal ramifications for his actions. Portland police have leveraged their public platform, reaching out to citizens for any further information on the case, and encouraging tip-offs to be sent directly to the Central NRT via their crime tips email.