Graffiti Sting on Greenway Path Nets Three Arrests

Three men were caught early Sunday with a can of spray paint in an area of The Greenway Path that has been plagued with graffiti recently, Woodbridge Police said.

Samuel Sanchez, 22, of Perth Amboy, Joseph James Daiuto, 23, of Hawthorne, and Nicholas Campbell, 20, of Edison, were each charged with obstructing administrator of law or other government and defiant trespass. Sanchez, Daiuto and Campbell were released on their own recognizance.

The Greenway Path, which is a stretch of blacktop from Metuchen to Hopelawn, had been under police surveillance recently due to the rash of graffiti incidents.  has recently been sustaining various forms of graffiti, according to the Township of Woodbridge.

Officers from Woodbridge’s Detective Bureau Tactical Unit were watching the path when they saw three men emerge from the woods and approach a bridge with a can of spray paint Sunday at about 2:55 a.m., police said.

When one of the men removed a can of spray paint from his bag, the officers approached and the trio attempted to run away, police said. Officers caught up to the men who were in possession of spray paint, police said.