Buffalo police say an over inflated ego helped them catch a suspected serial graffiti vandal.

Just last night alone, this appeared on a building at Pearl and Allen Street.The same purple was used on the side of this brick building around the corner on Elmwood. Then, minutes after a witness saw someone painting this on a city control box at Main and High, police arrested 23-year-old Jacob Wiles with six cans of spray paint.

His arrest came hours after he appeared in City Court answering to charges of nine previous incidents of graffiti.

Sam Lunetta of the Regional Anti-Graffiti Task Force said, "It's a habit, it's not a hobby. You know it becomes an addiction to a lot them. They really get into it. They want to really get into their style they just have to write it out there."

It may look like scribble, but retired Buffalo State Police Officer Sam Lunetta says taggers work in symbols.

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Lunetta explained, "It's the Asian symbol for the word 'big.'"

Big and bold. The owners of a screen printing shop identify Wiles as the one who came in several weeks ago.

Joe Piehler, co-owner of Positive Approach store, said, "He basically came into show me his sketch book or portfolio or whatever they call it. He began talking about one sketch in particular that he wanted to put on a t-shirt."

But that night he tagged their brick building.

"On the brick like this, it's very hard [to remove the graffiti]. That's why it cost a lot of money," said Lunetta.

The public defender for J**** W**** was scheduled to meet with the DA about a possible plea, but after his arrest last night, the DA now might push for felony charges. W**** is at the Holding Center on $1,500 bail.