Mission graffiti bust caught on tape

As graffiti goes, his was whimsical, seemingly not driven by turf battles or style wars. Nevertheless, his character-driven throw-ups frustrated the area around 19th and Guerrero early this year, and particularly one neighbor, who swung into action.

A YouTube poster named “SF Mission Protector” uploaded a 10-minute mini-movie documenting the exploits and eventual downfall of an artist who tagged a few walls too many.

The self-styled graffiti vigilante trained a video camera out his window and onto the tagger roaming around an empty construction site. At first, the dude surveys the area, taking in the magnificence of the blank canvas that surrounds him.

Then he gets to work, throwing up a couple of his signature pieces.

About five minutes later, the police sweep in, eventually nabbing the would-be Banksy between a couple of houses.