Week after week, the prolific graffiti crew illegally tagged their moniker on South Bay walls, serially spray-painting their acronym which stands for "Have You Seen Us?"
This week San Jose police emphatically answered that question.
They arrested four suspects -- all four from San Jose -- that investigators believe make up the "heart and soul" of the local taggers' gang.
And prosecutors are expected to add gang enhancements and potential years behind bars to the formal charges.
The arrests were to be announced in a press conference at the San Jose police department Thursday afternoon, emblazoning their own message to the community and the thriving subculture that often see their practice as edgy and creative street art and not destructive, ugly eyesores.
Like many big cities, graffiti has always been a persistent problem in San Jose. The city spends tens of thousands a year to clean up the illegal street art which collects on Highway 280 overpasses and sound walls on Highway 87.
For example, there were 3,294 acts of vandalism reported last year and 2,785 this year so far -- a vast majority of them graffiti.
And police have been relatively aggressive here about going after taggers. There is along-standing two-officer unit that focuses on taggers. There is even a link on the department's website that allows residents to submit photographs of graffiti to officers.
The graffiti, posted with pride on such sites as Flickr, usually consists of the name and small tag that shows the person is affiliated with HYSU. The crew even posted a YouTube video showing one of the taggers spray-painting a wall and later cursing in delight at the sight of a patrolling police car.
But the police got the last laugh this time.
Contact Sean Webby at 408-920-5003. Follow him at twitter.com/seanwebby .
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