Graffiti convict accused of assaulting man with rock

YAKIMA -- A Selah man recently sentenced for causing thousands of dollars of graffiti damage in downtown Yakima is set to be back in court this afternoon.

Brandon Syverson, 25, is accused of hitting a 24-year-old Selah man on the head with a rock on July 29 -- two days before his sentencing hearing in the graffiti case.

Syverson and a Yakima man, Dennis Rose Jr., were given a year and a day in prison after pleading guilty to felony malicious mischief charges. The pair had been released while the case was pending.

Witnesses caught them in the spring of 2006 while they were vandalizing the Sub Shop on North Second Street. Police said they were believed to be responsible for a two-month graffiti spree that included using acid to etch their "tag names" into the windows of multiple downtown businesses. Some of the damage is still visible.

In the assault case, the victim accuses Syverson of coming up from behind him and hitting him in the head with a rock. The victim was walking his dog on Wernex Loop about 6 p.m. on July 29.

The victim said Syverson was apparently upset with him because they both had dated the same woman.

Syverson is scheduled to make a first appearance in Yakima County Superior Court this afternoon as prosecutors consider whether to file the second-degree assault charge requested by Selah police.

-- Mark Morey