Arrest made in Sugar House graffiti spree

Salt Lake City police may have caught their man in black. Or in this case, their man in the black and white surveillance video.

A serial graffiti artist who went on a unusual vandalism streak, tagging businesses in the Sugar House area with Johnny Cash-related scrawls and references, was arrested Thursday.

Since Aug. 10, the tagger's ring of graffiti included at least 10 businesses from 1300 South to 2100 South and from 900 East to 1300 East.

But police say the apparent super-fan of the country music legend was doing more than walking the line, he stepped over it.

The graffiti typically included the word "Cash" in big letters, and on at least one occasion included a drawing of Cash's head. Other graffiti have included the words, "Hello I'm Johnny Cash," a drawing of a crown or the words, "I'm a drifter."

One store surveillance video caught the man who was causing a lot of "hurt" to local businesses. After releasing that video to the media, Salt Lake City police detective Jeff Bedard said detectives received tips that led to the arrest of 19-year-old Tyler James Olsen.

Olsen was arrested at his grandmother's house for investigation of criminal mischief, a third-degree felony.

Bedard said he didn't know what the motivation was behind the vandalism spree, but investigators found out that Olsen is, indeed, a big Johnny Cash fan.

As he was being taken to the Salt Lake County Jail, the arresting officer happened to have a Johnny Cash CD in his car and asked Olsen if he wanted to listen to it during the ride. Bedard said that Olsen happily accepted.

There was no word whether what he listened to was "Folsom Prison Blues."

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