Young Aurora tagger punished by cleaning up own graffiti

Marcus Allen began his Labor Day weekend performing free labor for the city of Aurora.

The 16-year-old spent part of his Friday afternoon painting over graffiti he had spray-painted on a brick wall near his apartment on the city's southwest side.

The act of contrition was prompted by his mother, Verna Hodges, who wanted her son to be punished in a way that would make him think twice about doing something similar again. The city agreed to go along with Hodges' suggestion since the graffiti didn't involve any gang references.

"This is the first time I've seen this," said Terry Miller, an Aurora maintenance service worker who supervised Allen's work.

The boy said he likes to draw things. He said about three weeks ago the massive brown wall was too inviting to pass up and "one night I just did it."

Admittedly not a criminal mastermind, Allen said the rendering he painted on the wall was familiar to neighbors in the complex who had seen other examples of his artwork on paper. Other residents told authorities where the culprit lived.

Marcus faced a fine for his misdeeds and his family could have been evicted from the apartment complex if he didn't agree to the punishment.

Hodges contends her son is not a bad apple. The mother of four, who works third shifts, said her son often cooks for the rest of the family and wakes her up with breakfast ready.

"He's a good kid and he does good things," she said. "This was just a mistake."

Miller said city crews normally remove graffiti within 18 hours of it being reported, but this was up for about three weeks because the city had to sign off on Allen performing the labor as a punishment.

It took the teen more than a half-hour to cover his graffiti with fresh brown paint. The chore was made more difficult because of the crevasses between the bricks.

Miller said he would usually powerwash bricks, but since the wall had been painted over before it was easier to apply a fresh coat. And it was more laborious for Allen to paint than powerwash.

It didn't take long for signs of strain to begin showing on Allen's brow as he covered the wall that was 8 feet high and 30 feet wide.

"It is hard," he said. "And it's not fun."