'D.I.M.' GANG TAGS? OR BORED KIDS?

Graffiti on buildings unnerves Eureka Springs

Margareta Rains of Ponca City, Okla., climbs the stairs to Center Street in Eureka Springs on Wednesday. Rains said she likes the bright yellow “D.I.M.” image on the wall, graffiti that has appeared in many spots around town.
Margareta Rains of Ponca City, Okla., climbs the stairs to Center Street in Eureka Springs on Wednesday. Rains said she likes the bright yellow “D.I.M.” image on the wall, graffiti that has appeared in many spots around town.

EUREKA SPRINGS -- People in this Victorian tourist town are taking a dim view of graffiti that has recently appeared in a few spots.

photo

Special to the Democrat-Gazette

This painting, on Spring Street in Eureka Springs, appears to be the shadow of Count Orlok, a vampire, as seen climbing stairs in the 1922 silent fi lm Nosferatu. A tiny “D.I.M.” signature marks the work.

Many of the stylized, bloated initials read "D.I.M."

In Los Angeles, that could stand for Down Insane Malditos, a Hispanic street gang known for tagging things with "D.I.M." graffiti.

But in Eureka Springs?

Had some of the gangsters vacationed in the Ozark Mountains?

"As far as we know, we can't actually confirm or deny that it's the Down Insane Malditos," said Paul Sebby, a detective with the Eureka Springs Police Department who said officers did some research on the gang. "It could be just someone writing their initials on the wall."

Eureka Springs police Sgt. Brian Young played down any possible gang connections.

"It does not appear to be gang-related, as gang graffiti is usually not as ornate or comical," he said Friday.

Tucker Mallett, an investigator with the Carroll County sheriff's office, said he sent photos of Eureka Springs' graffiti to an expert on such things who informed him that only one was suspicious, and it was related to Los Solidos, a gang that operates primarily in Connecticut.

"He said the rest of it looks to be graffiti taggers, not gang tags," said Mallett. "Typically, your gang tags aren't going to be your big bubbly letters."

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Mallett said the Eureka Springs graffiti is probably the work of a teenager whose family has recently moved to the area.

"I don't think they honestly have anything to worry about concerning gang activity," Mallett said of Eureka Springs.

If that's the case, Eureka Springs may differ from surrounding cities in that regard.

John Bailey, the police chief in Green Forest, 20 miles east of Eureka Springs, said the city has been dealing with similar graffiti off and on for 20 years. Home to a Tyson Foods processing plant, Green Forest attracts workers from other parts of the country.

"Some of it we do believe were the real things," Bailey said of Green Forest's gang graffiti. "Some of it was just wannabes. ... We have dealt with true gang bangers that have come here and gotten in trouble."

Bailey said the gang members do more elaborate, artistic graffiti than their imitators do.

"Actual gang bangers take pride in what they do," he said.

Bailey said documenting the graffiti, then immediately cleaning it off or painting over it are the best ways to deal with the problem. He said Green Forest will ask property owners to clean graffiti off of personal property, but the city will assist them if they need help.

"If we do have an outbreak, we try to get it cleaned up as soon as possible," Bailey said.

Buddy Fry, the public works director in Green Forest, said the city spends about $600 a year cleaning up graffiti.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, "Gangs use graffiti as their street 'telegraph,' sending messages about turf and advertising their exploits. Graffiti identifies territorial boundaries, lists members and communicates threats to rival gangs."

Officer Duron with the West Los Angeles Community Police Station said D.I.M. stands for a gang called Down Insane Mexicans, which may also be known as Down Insane Malditos. Duron, who said it was against department policy to give out his first name, said the Down Insane Mexicans gang is active in west Los Angeles.

Maldito is Spanish for damned or cursed.

California court documents refer to Down Insane Malditos in 2009 and Down Insane Mexicans in 2015.

Mallett believes the "D.I.M." around Eureka Springs is likely the artist's initials.

While Green Forest is used to graffiti, Eureka Springs is not, Mallett said.

"It's got the residents of Eureka stirred," he said.

Eureka Springs Mayor Robert "Butch" Berry said he was surprised when his sister-in-law asked about the gangs in the artsy enclave.

"What gangs?" Berry said.

His sister-in-law, while visiting from Fort Worth during the Christmas holiday, said she saw some graffiti on Center Street that appeared to be gang tags.

Berry asked Police Chief Thomas Achord to investigate.

Achord said it may be local kids imitating graffiti they've seen on the Internet.

"We've got a small little group of people that may be associated with gangs in the Springdale area," said Achord. "And we have motorcycle gangs, but they don't go around tagging things."

Mallett said families with possible gang ties have moved back and forth from Springdale to Green Forest. Springdale is 60 miles west of Green Forest, and Eureka Springs is between the two cities.

Sebby said the amount of graffiti in Eureka Springs has increased over the past couple of months.

"We're always concerned with people damaging other people's property with graffiti," he said. "We're doing our best to keep on top of it."

Gayla Klemett of Holiday Island, which is 9 miles north of Eureka Springs, was so bothered by the graffiti in Eureka Springs that she started a thread about it Jan. 1 in the open forum at Geekfest.com, an online discussion group for area residents.

Klemett, who is originally from Texas, said her first thought was that it looked like gang tags.

"Eureka is a very artsy town," she said. "So I can understand why a lot of people aren't seeing it. But to me, it means something."

Most of the D.I.M. graffiti around Eureka Springs consists of those three letters, but a brick wall along Spring Street has a more artistic and dark image, with a tiny "D.I.M." signature next to it.

The image appears to be the shadow of Count Orlok, a vampire, as seen climbing the stairs in the 1922 silent film Nosferatu.

In Eureka Springs, the figure is ascending wooden stairs alongside a brick building beneath an old sign painted high on the wall that reads "Blocksom & Co. Undertakers and Embalmers." It's one of Eureka Springs most famous "ghost" signs.

Artists are usually embraced in Eureka Springs, and so is history.

"I support artists, but not at the expense of our never-can-be-replaced Victorian architecture," said Pat Matsukis of Eureka Springs, who participated in the Geekfest discussion on the graffiti.

Klemett said some of the D.I.M. graffiti is accompanied by a frowny face. But for some people, the occasional smiley face seems to lighten the perspective.

Margareta Rains, originally of Sweden but now a resident of Ponca City, Okla., said she liked the bright yellow D.I.M. graffiti on a concrete wall off Center Street, which has a smiling yellow bubble next to it.

"I like any color," she said Wednesday while walking up the stairs after lunch at New Delhi Cafe with her husband, Herb. "It looks better than without. I don't know what it is of, but at least it is color."

Jeanie Davis manages The Brownstone Inn, which is across Main Street from the Old Ice House, which had been tagged with some graffiti recently but has been painted over.

"It's just some teenager wannabes," said Davis. "You've got to corral them every once in a while and smack them around."

Eureka Springs Alderman Mickey Schneider had a similar opinion.

"I personally do not believe we have gangs," she said. "We have bored teenagers."

SundayMonday on 01/15/2017

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