One of the city’s most notorious graffiti artists, who sprayed his name in dozens of places around Queens and bragged about his exploits online, was busted Wednesday on a mountain of felony vandalism charges, cops said.
Peter Podsiadlo, who goes by the graffiti name SEMP, was arrested at his home on Long Island Wednesday afternoon after cops got wind of his Instagram, where he posted images of his tag decorating walls and overpasses around the borough, according to police.
“He’s one of the more prodigious taggers in the city,” the source said. “This guy was asking for it, advertising it so blatantly online.”
Podsiadlo allegedly used the Instagram moniker and hashtag “SEMP516” to broadcast his work, cops said.
The prolific tagger was arraigned on 23 felony counts of vandalism in Queens Criminal Court on Thursday.
Cops say Podsiadlo was also arrested back in March for possession of graffiti instruments on Merrick Boulevard.
They had been watching his movements through Instagram ever since his release from Queens Criminal Court.
“We’ve been tracking this guy for a little while now, his work’s definitely been on our radar,” a police source said.
Podsiadlo targeted the Cross Island Parkway and the Clearview and Long Island expressways, sprawling his “SEMP” tag throughout the borough.
The NYPD has seen a 15 percent increase in graffiti-related complaints citywide so far this year through last Sunday.
The number of suspects arrested for making graffiti also has jumped 11 percent in that time span, cops said.