Holes in the wall

Tuesday, Oct. 9 — Jeffrey Scott Handley Jr., the local artist who admitted to tagging the Capitol Building in September with graffiti, was arrested Monday for nailing his artwork to the halls of the Gannon Building at Lansing Community College.

“Remember those paintings I hung up at LCC awhile back ? definitely just got arrested and sent to jail for the nail holes I left in the walls,” Handley wrote on his Facebook page Monday afternoon. Handley also goes by the name Geoph Aldora Espen.

LCC Spokeswoman Ellen Jones said Handley was arrested Monday afternoon for a misdemeanor charge of malicious destruction of property. Reading from an LCC police report, she said the incident occurred on the afternoon of Sept. 6. Jones said Handley hung up three of his paintings, coupled with his “business card” indicating that the paintings were for sale. Jones said Handley put two nail holes in each wall to hang the paintings.

“The LCC Police gave him two or three weeks to turn himself in. He didn’t and he was taken to Lansing jail,” she said. “He didn’t get authorization to put the holes in the wall. We have to repair them.”

Jones said repair costs are approximately $350 for labor and materials. The artwork was returned to Handley, she said. At this point, Jones was unaware of a court date related to the incident.

“At this point, it’s probably in the hands of the prosecutor,” she said.

Handley’s attorney, Denise Hairston, could not be reached for comment.

Handley is awaiting trial for separate charges related to graffiti he did at the Capitol Building and a nearby war memorial in September. That trial is set for Oct. 31 at 8:30 a.m. before Judge Paula Manderfield in Ingham County Circuit Court. He has said he plans to plead guilty at that time.

(Photo: A Facebook photo of Handley posing with a hammer next to one of the paintings he hung up at LCC)