At the height of his notoriety Chaka was demonized by mainstream media and culture as being little more than a prolific vandal. Chaka’s signature tag had appeared in a staggering 10,000 locations from Orange County to San Francisco. Resurrection opens April 25th and will feature highly anticipated new work from the mysterious Chaka.ĭaniel Ramos, AKA Chaka, was 18 when he was arrested and charged in 1991 with 48 counts of vandalism, trespassing and causing $500,000 in property damage. and get into something more positive.Mid-City Arts is pleased to present the first solo show ever from the infamous LA graffiti artist, Chaka. “He says he just wants to disappear from the scene for a while. Nonetheless, Ramos is eager to start a new life, according to Gamboa, who visited his friend a week ago. “Daniel, being young and inexperienced, accepted the blame. “But when the police checked out what he wrote and saw the word Chaka, they freaked out and thought they had the king of graffiti,” Gamboa said. “When he got caught, he took credit for all of it thinking that, as a minor, he would only get a slap on the wrist,” Gamboa said. Gamboa said Ramos is only one of several graffiti artists who have splashed the moniker Chaka on Los Angeles buildings and walls in recent years. Now, “He is going to take responsibility for what he did,” the lawyer said. “He felt he was perceived as a hero in the minds of gang members.” “Until he talked with detectives, he was not cognizant of how society viewed his acts,” Handler said. Handler acknowledged that his client, who remains jailed in lieu of $10,000 bail, was initially anything but remorseful.
“He gained a lot of weight,” said Raul Gamboa, 24, a self-described close friend of Ramos, who attended Tuesday’s hearing. Friends said he spent most of his time at the hospital, and later in County Jail, listening to the radio, reading and studying art. Hospital officials refused to release information about Ramos, citing confidentiality. When police handcuffed him, they said, Ramos yelled: “I am the famous Chaka!”Ī month later, the once brazen tagger was ruled “a danger to himself” by a court commissioner and transferred from County Jail to Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk. 28-after he had passed his 18th birthday and became an adult under the law-when Los Angeles police officers caught him writing Chaka with a marking pen on a traffic light standard in Lincoln Heights. Ramos’ career as a tagger ended the morning of Nov. “The extent of the property damage made this the worst case of graffiti vandalism we have seen in Los Angeles, or heard of anywhere else in the nation,” he said.
Hahn called the volume of Chaka graffiti staggering. Hahn said, “apparently because they are mobile and carried his tag throughout the Southern Pacific network.” “Ramos concentrated a lot of effort on vandalizing railway cars,” City Atty. Railroad officials estimate that Ramos caused about $30,000 worth of property damage in and around the yard. The Southern Pacific transportation yard in Glassell Park was hit hard.
Chaka tagger windows#
He was convicted of the charges in April and placed on probation.Īlthough still on probation, Ramos’ nightly forays against concrete curbs, walls and storefront windows continued for another nine months, police said. Ramos, whose juvenile record includes 10 arrests for vandalism and theft, was under 18 when he was arrested by RTD authorities March 8, 1990, and charged with 88 counts of vandalism. Police contend that Ramos, whose activities were not gang-motivated, stole spray paint from automobile supply stores and worked mostly at night.
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