2 European men wanted for spraying graffiti on Taiwan MRT trains

兩名歐洲男子因在台灣捷運列車上塗鴉而被通緝

German, Czech men wore 6 disguises to avoid detection


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taichung District Prosecutor's Office has issued an arrest warrant for a German man and a Czech man for allegedly spraying graffiti on a Taichung Mass Rapid Transit (TMRT) train last week.

Police identified two foreign nationals who flew to Taiwan from Hong Kong on Aug. 22 and changed outfits several times after spray painting the train, before flying to Japan, reported NOWNews. TMRT said at a press conference that the Taichung District Prosecutor's Office would issue a wanted notice and release photographs of the suspects.

At around 9 p.m. on Aug. 24, the two men used hydraulic cutters to cut through a barbed wire fence and enter the TMRT system near the Xinwuri high-speed rail station to tag the train. It took the suspects about 15 minutes to spray "STEB" on one carriage and "HASH" on the other.

Afterwards, in order to avoid detection, they moved on foot and changed clothes six times. One of the suspects put on a dress and wig to pose as a "woman" at one point.

In addition, the locations where the men changed clothes were all in remote areas that lacked surveillance cameras. Then, on Aug. 25, the two flew to Japan.

Nearly 200 police officers were then tasked with sifting through footage from traffic surveillance cameras at 120 intersections and private cameras. On Tuesday (Aug. 29), police were able to identify one German man and one Czech man.

Police said because the graffiti that appeared that week on the Taipei MRT and Kaohsiung MRT trains were similar to that in Taichung, they believe the men or members of the same group may be the perpetrators.

The case has been transferred to the Taichung District Prosecutors' Office for investigation on charges of malicious mischief (毀損罪) under the Criminal Code and violations of the Mass Rapid Transit Act (大眾捷運法罪). The District Prosecutors' Office has issued a wanted notice and Taichung police will also share information with authorities in Taipei and Kaohsiung in order to clarify the details of the case.