August 22, 2022
Elisabeth Shepard, Communications Director
DA Mike Schmidt announces 25 charges against prolific tagger
PORTLAND, Oregon – Today, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced that a grand jury indicted Emile Laurent, 22, on six counts of Criminal Mischief in the First Degree and 19 counts of Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree. Laurent turned himself in to authorities the morning of Monday, August 22.
The charges stem from a series of incidents over the period of the last four years wherein Laurent allegedly tagged buildings and structures using the tag “TENDO” which investigators believe to be shorthand for “Nintendo”. This tag was found on public and private property across the Portland metro area, listed below. Damages have not yet been determined for all locations and are currently pending. A large portion of the City of Portland property damage took place in close proximity to Laurent’s residence.
| Incident Location | Cost in damages |
| The Oregon Leather Company off of Southwest 2nd Avenue | $250 |
| Embassy Suites off of Southwest 3rd Avenue | $300 |
| American Medical Response off of Southwest 2nd Avenue | $6,000 |
| Home Forward off of Southwest 10th Avenue | $350 |
| Public Storage off of North Gantenbein Avenue | $5,750 |
| Adaptive Construction off of North Hancock Street | $1,130 |
| Sherwin Williams off of North Russell Street | $855 |
| Central City Concern off of Northwest Davis Street | $350 |
| Food Cart Pod off of Southwest Ankeny Street | Pending |
| Portland General Electric off of Southeast Division | Pending |
| Fe Bennett off of Northeast Broadway Street | $2,700 |
| Bartur Foods off of Southeast 10th Avenue | $200 |
| Property of the Oregon Department of Transportation (various locations) | $450 |
| Property of the City of Portland (various locations) | $1,650* |
| TOTAL of non-pending damages | $19,985 |
*Additional damages pending.
Restitution will be made available to the appropriate party for each incident.
This investigation was initiated by investigators with the Central Precinct Neighborhood Response Team in February of 2022. After many hours of work, investigators applied for, and were granted a search warrant for Laurent’s residence. In late spring that warrant was served, and significant evidence was seized. Central NRT has been focusing on prolific and impactful taggers in a focused effort to address an increase in vandalism within the City of Portland. This focused work was begun after Central NRT received numerous complaints about graffiti from the community and business stakeholders.
The investigation was referred to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office for review and subsequently prosecuted by the Strategic Prosecution and Services Unit (SPSU). The unit exists in response to crime data indicating there is a relatively small share of offenders that make up a significant share of low-level crimes in Multnomah County. By focusing on what SPSU has coined as “high-volume system users” it can make the greatest impact on public safety with limited resources. Earlier this year, the SPSU’s data analyst calculated that 13% of offenders account for 41% of crimes like vandalism, motor vehicle theft, robbery, and similar offenses.
A charging document is only an accusation of a crime. Laurent is innocent unless and until proven guilty.
#MCDA#