Two teenage taggers taken into custody last week BY TOM CAIAZZA Staff Writer EDISON - As a result of selected enforcement procedures and a good pair of ears, police were able to nab two teenage vandals in separate incidents over a four-day span. According to police Lt. Joseph Shannon, an officer arrested Zachary Cohen, 19, of Edison after he was observed spray painting a private business truck in a parking lot on Amboy Avenue a little after midnight June 30. Patrolman Rudolph "Rudy" Innocenti pulled up to Cohen, Shannon said, and ordered him to stop. Cohen allegedly took off running. Innocenti followed on foot, and after a chase that took the officer through several backyards, Cohen was found hiding under a deck in the backyard of a Metuchen residence and was apprehended. He was returned to the scene of the vandalism, Shannon said, where it was learned that a black bag found there contained cans of spray paint, and a nearby Dumpster was marked with the same "tag" Cohen had been spray painting on the van at the time he was discovered. Shannon said the tag seemed to be of a personal nature and that he did not believe it was related in any way to gang activity. Cohen was charged with two counts of criminal mischief, one for each tag, and one count of resisting arrest. He was held on $7,500 bail. In a separate incident, Patrolman Michael Simmino was on patrol near the Morris Goodkind Bridge around 2:30 a.m. July 3 and detected another act of vandalism taking place. Shannon said the bridge, which spans the Raritan River connecting Edison Township with the city of New Brunswick, has long been a hot spot for vandals, due to the access the area provides to the bridge's underbelly. Police have been using selected enforcement to patrol that area recently. On this night, Simmino had been driving slowly on the bridge with his windows down when he heard the sound of the metal ball inside a spray paint can being shaken, Shannon said. Simmino arrested a 17-year-old male and charged him with criminal mischief and underage possession and consumption of alcohol. He was found to be in possession of a bag full of spray cans, Shannon said, and one beer.