Atlanta Man Files Graffiti Lawsuit

ATLANTA - An Atlanta resident fed up with graffiti is fighting back with a lawsuit and he's suing the people he believes are responsible for vandalizing his building.

Whether you call it graffiti, tags, art or vandalism, it's impossible to miss along Edgewood Avenue.

"For me, I can't manage graffiti in the city but I can say on my private property, at my home, this is not acceptable," said resident Stan Mobley.

For two decades, Mobley has lived and worked in a historic Old Fourth Ward building and he said he's been tagged by graffiti artists literally hundreds of times.

"I want to have individuals leave my property alone. This is my house. It's where I've lived 18 years. I want this to stop," said Mobley.

Over the years Mobley has taken pictures of the graffiti, filed police reports and even painted over the brick to make it easier to clean up the graffiti.

Mobley decided to sue the people he believes are responsible for the vandalism.

"The people that are listed in the lawsuit have a direct correlation to damage to my property," said Mobley.

The plaintiffs say this lawsuit isn't just symbolic. The plaintiffs want to win a monetary judgment and are asking for $1 million in damages from each of the defendants.

Artist Greg Mike and his ABV Gallery are named in the lawsuit. Mobley said the posters on his building are Mike's work.

"I don't have any comment on it at all. There's no reason for comment," said Mike. I told you I have no comment on the issue."

Also named in the suit are pro skateboarder, Grant Taylor and his father.

Mobley said there's a cost to graffiti and now he wants the people behind it to pay.

The lawsuit lists several artists and businesses by name, but others are only named by their aliases.