'El Barto' ordered released from jail

A graffiti artist rounded up and jailed on a probation violation for maintaining art supplies was ordered released from jail Wednesday after his attorney argued the man used the supplies in service to the city.

Saif Azzuz, 20, an art student known by the nickname “El Barto,” last year admitted two felony charges and was sentenced to five years probation for spray-painting graffiti throughout Santa Rosa. He also was ordered to complete 1,000 hours of community service.

On July 28, Santa Rosa police arrested him after probation searches on convicted vandals were done as a run-up to an anti-graffiti conference hosted by the Santa Rosa Police Department and the Nograf Anti Graffiti Network.

But it appears Azzuz’s alleged violation may actually have been part of the volunteer and abatement work he was doing for the very city that arrested him, according to his lawyer, Jonathan Steele.

Azzuz has remained held in Sonoma County Jail without bail since his arrest. Police said he was arrested on suspicion of “possessing graffiti-related tools and paraphernalia” and a separate charge of a new graffiti incident reported on July 14 in Santa Rosa.

But in Azzuz’s second court appearance on Wednesday, prosecutors again said they weren’t ready to file new charges.

After a lengthy discussion at the judge’s desk, Steele persuaded Judge Lawrence Antolini to release Azzuz, arguing that the “graffiti-related tools” were “artistic supplies.”

“You’re being released for one reason, and his name is Jonathan Steele,” Antolini told Azzuz. “He has agreed to personally undertake you and guide you through the minefield of the law.”

After court, Steele said Azzuz, an art student at Santa Rosa Junior College, has volunteered with the city of Santa Rosa to paint its freeway underpass murals and to abate illegal spray-paint graffiti.

“He’s been doing the city murals and abatement for a long time,” he said, adding that he had several letters of support for Azzuz from city personnel and private citizens.

Antolini set an Oct. 30 follow-up court date to check in on Azzuz’s probation progress. He ordered that Azzuz submit permission letters to the Probation Department from teachers describing any art supplies he needs for school.