Baker City Police Arrest Second Suspect in Gang-Related Graffiti Spree

Taryn Matthew Niehaus, 19, was booked at the Baker County Jail on March 20, the second Baker City suspect arrested in two days for spray-painting 18th Street Gang graffiti across the alley between First and Second streets and the Dewey Avenue railroad underpass near Orchard Street. Niehaus was later released, but he faces a felony charge that carries up to five years in prison.

His arrest came one day after Baker City Police took a 14-year-old boy into custody in connection with the same incidents, which officers discovered on the evening of March 18. The juvenile was transferred to the Canyon County Juvenile Detention Center in Idaho and charged with first-degree criminal mischief, the same Class C felony now facing Niehaus.

Police labeled the vandalism "gang-related" because the spray paint explicitly referenced the 18th Street Gang by name. That direct invocation of a known criminal organization is how investigators make the classification: the tags themselves serve as the evidence. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the 18th Street Gang is the largest street gang in Los Angeles. Visible gang tags in two high-traffic Baker City corridors draw concern not just for the damage they represent, but because they can function as territorial markers or recruiting signals, raising the stakes beyond ordinary vandalism.

Under Oregon law, first-degree criminal mischief applies when property damage exceeds $500 and carries a maximum of five years in prison and fines up to $125,000. Courts may also order restitution to cover documented cleanup costs, and Baker City Police estimated graffiti removal alone will exceed $1,000. Property owners who can document repair or cleanup expenses should file a report with Baker County Dispatch at 541-523-6415 to ensure those costs appear in the official record, where they can become part of any restitution calculation if the case results in conviction. Businesses with commercial property coverage can also submit vandalism claims through their insurers.

Baker City Police Lt. Wayne Chastain confirmed on April 1 that investigators do not currently have any additional suspects. The department worked with regional law enforcement partners throughout the investigation that produced two arrests within 48 hours of the initial reports.

Whether Niehaus or the juvenile held formal ties to the 18th Street Gang or used the name to project affiliation is a question the investigation has not yet publicly resolved. What is resolved: felony charges against an adult and juvenile detention for a minor, both stemming from graffiti on two of Baker City's most visible corridors, a downtown alley and a railroad underpass used daily by residents and commuters alike.