Craig Fugate, skyscraper tagger, found dead hanging from a rope at a Sacramento high-rise
A man who was found dead hanging by a rope off an 18-story Sacramento high-rise appears to have been a graffiti tagger, Sacramento police said Monday. The man was identified late on Tuesday and police added that he was a ‘tagger.’
Fire Battalion Chief Marc Bentovoja said the man appears to have died accidentally of asphyxiation when he created a harness from the rope and lowered himself down the east side of the office building.
“From everything we can tell, he didn’t have any special rope rappelling equipment on, climbing equipment or anything like that,” he said. “He appeared to be looped into the rope.”
Sacramento County Coroner’s Office said Craig Michael Fugate, age 30, was from Vancouver and is believed to be a graffiti tagger.
“It appears he was a tagger. … Investigators found a can of spray paint and etching equipment,” said Michele Gigante, of the Sacramento Police Department.
Sacramento Fire Department Battalion Chief Marc Bentovoja said Fugate did not appear to work for the building, and investigators are reviewing building security cameras to determine how he got in.
It’s unclear how long the body had been hanging four floors from the top of the building.
“From everything we can tell, he didn’t have any special rope rappelling equipment on, climbing equipment or anything like that,” Bentovoja said. “He appeared to be looped into the rope.”
Fugate’s death comes less than three weeks after police say a 22-year-old convicted graffiti tagger fell to his death while spray-painting a freeway bridge in Sacramento. Gigante said the deaths were unrelated.
