Graffiti tip earns woman an iPod

PROVO — Provo leaders are handing out iPods to residents who help them tackle the city's graffiti problem.

Police Chief Craig Geslison awarded an iPod to Pamela Pick on Tuesday for providing information to police that led to the arrest of a 15-year-old boy. Pick noticed the suspicious activity of the boy, a son of another resident at the Boulders Apartments, 750 S. 650 West, and reported it to apartment managers.

Manager Traci Hulet pointed out the teenager to officer Jason Barker. Barker confronted the boy, who admitted the crime and turned over his spray-paint cans.

Provo began offering iPods to residents in March for information leading to an arrest and conviction for graffiti. Graffiti had been a growing problem but reports have dropped 7 percent over the past three months compared to the same time period in 2007.

Pick's iPod is the second awarded by the city. The first went to an 11-year-old boy who witnessed four adults and one minor painting graffiti near Slate Canyon Drive in south Provo. His parents notified police, who arrested the five.

— Tad Walch