Police catch suspected ‘rush’ tagger who marred downtown Lawrence, KU surfaces over past year

Graffiti appears on an electrical box affixed to the Wesley Building on the University of Kansas campus, pictured Dec. 27, 2016.

About a year ago, the same stylized word started showing up painted on walls and other surfaces all over downtown Lawrence and the University of Kansas campus: “Rush.”

Police have now identified the person they suspect is responsible for the tagging, and he has been charged with dozens of counts of graffiti.

Sean D. Dixon was charged in Lawrence Municipal Court with 25 counts of criminal damage to property by graffiti, according to a complaint filed in court on May 22. The incidents happened from August 2016 through April of this year, according to the complaint.

In the same complaint, Dixon also is charged with possessing drug paraphernalia on May 4. All counts in the complaint are from Lawrence Police Department incidents.

There may be more graffiti charges against him.

Graffiti on the back door of Smith Hall on the University of Kansas campus, pictured Dec. 27, 2016.

According to the municipal court clerk, the above is one of four cases pending against Dixon, but documents for the other cases were not immediately available from the court.

KU police department’s online incident log shows that municipal charges have been filed for at least six of the rush taggings reported on campus, according to updates posted this week. In January, the Journal-World reported that the rush tagger at that time had struck campus at least 17 times since August 2016 — using various colors of paint on walls, doors, air-conditioning units and electrical boxes.

Dixon has a court appearance in one case scheduled for Tuesday, according to municipal court. In the other three cases he’s scheduled to appear Sept. 22.

A call to Dixon’s attorney, listed in court documents as John Frydman, was not immediately returned late Thursday afternoon.