Man, 20, Accused of Felony Graffiti Scrawls : Crime: The rare prosecution is based on vandalism amounting to $12,000 at 200 Valley sites over six months. The suspect, who has pleaded innocent, faces prison.

An accused tagger pleaded not guilty Thursday to a rare felony vandalism charge filed against an adult for allegedly scrawling graffiti on 200 North Hollywood sites over a six-month period, according to the Los Angeles district attorney’s office.

Jaime Anthony Rodriguez, 20, of North Hollywood, is accused of spraying or marking the moniker “James 129” on scores of walls, street signs, curbs, street lights and billboards between May 3 and Nov. 29, causing more than $12,000 in damage, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Mitchel Harris.

Rodriguez’s case is the first in memory where prosecutors reached the felony level in an adult case by adding up the cost of erasing the hundreds of tags all over town, Gibbons said. A felony requires at least $5,000 in damage. To the frustration of police, vandalism by adults is commonly prosecuted as a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail. Over the past five years, only about a dozen adult taggers have been prosecuted for felony vandalism, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

If convicted, Rodriguez could be sentenced to three years in state prison, said Harris.

Victims listed in the complaint against Rodriguez include the city of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the state of California, Gannett Media, Town Ranch Realty, Rohan Glass Co. and Metropolitan Signs, among others, he said.

LAPD Detective Craig Rhudy, who heads the Community Tagger Task Force, hailed the prosecutor’s decision to file the felony count.

He estimated that 10% of the 700 “active” taggers in the San Fernando Valley are believed to be adults. “This is a real step forward in the war against graffiti,” Rhudy said.

Charging an adult tagger with a felony count of vandalism allows suspects to be sentenced to state prison and supervised probation, Rhudy said.

Rhudy said his department began investigating Rodriguez after they served a search warrant last Friday at the North Hollywood residence of David George, 21, a member of Rodriguez’s tagging crew. Information gleaned from the search led them to Rodriguez, who turned himself in Tuesday.

As many as five to 10 additional arrests of members of the same tagging crew are expected as a result of the investigation, Rhudy said.

“We want to strike fear in the heart of the 129 crew in North Hollywood,” Rhudy said, referring to Rodriguez’s tagging group.

Police estimate that together Rodriguez and George are responsible for as much as $35,000 in property damage.

About 25 volunteers help police by locating, photographing and filing crime reports on graffiti discovered throughout the San Fernando Valley.

Since the task force was formed in July, 1993, more than 11,000 graffiti-related crime reports have been filed.