The Traffic Barrel Monster and Its Creator, Busted
A man expresses his creativity only to be shut down by the man!
A North Carolina man is facing criminal charges for creating an amusing piece of public art from construction barrels. NC State student history major Joseph Carnevale, 21, was nabbed Wednesday after a Raleigh Police Department investigation determined that he was responsible for the work [below] constructed May 31 on a roadway adjacent to North Carolina State University.
Carnevale, was charged with misdemeanor larceny for allegedly building his orange monster from materials pilfered from a construction site. According to an arrest warrant, Carnevale “destroyed three road blocking barrels by cutting and screwing them together to form a statue.” Police estimated that Carnevale’s artwork caused $360 in damages to Hamlett Associates, the North Carolina construction company that owned the barrels.
Facebook pages such as “Don’t Charge Joseph Carnevale” and “Art isn’t Crime!” have formed, with Barrel Monster-backers urged to contact Wake District Attorney Colon Willoughby and ask that the charges be dropped.
Willoughby himself questions how serious the crime is. And workers for the construction company that owns the barrels say they were sad to see the monster go and don’t want anyone criminally charged.
Read full article: NewsObserver
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This was an amazing sight. This guy took something really ugly and made it into one of the most creative specimans I have ever seen. Why worry about this small incident when ther are hundreds of rapes, and murders going on in the city. Taxpayers money should not be used to try to put this man in jail, or to fine him…Drop the charges.