Cops busted five graffiti vandals early Wednesday including one whose ubiquitous tag – Cash4 – can be seen all over Brooklyn and lower Manhattan, law enforcement sources said.
Russell Murphy – who was once famously photographed kissing his gal pal while the pair were handcuffed following an earlier graffiti bust – was nabbed shortly after 1 a.m. in the East Village.
Murphy, 28, was charged with making graffiti, criminal trespassing and resisting arrest after he and four others were spotted on the roof of a building at 199 Avenue A vandalizing a wall.
The five took off but were collared by cops after a short chase in which two officers suffered minor injuries, sources said.
Murphy, they said, was flailing his arms trying to get away and avoid being handcuffed.
Murphy and his girlfriend Alexis Creque were photographed in a lip lock in August 2012 by Brooklyn photographer Mo Gelber after they were arrested for tagging a building.
Gelber hoped the shot – which he called “Last Kiss” – would win a prestigious contest run by the Canon camera company and famed Hollywood director Ron Howard.
He posted the photo on Facebook hoping to learn the couples identities so he could get their permission to use the image in the contest.
But the hipster vandal refused to let his photo be used after his lawyer said it could hurt his court case.
Asked for comment by The Post at the time, Creque and Murphy slipped a note under their apartment door bearing the words, “F–k Off.”
Gelber had vowed to share any money he made from the photo with the couple.
“I’ll just tell him don’t use it to buy spray paint,” he said at the time.
Murphy pleaded guilty in January 2013 to criminal mischief and possession of a graffiti instrument for tagging the side of a Lower East Side building where the eatery Milk and Honey was located. He was ordered to serve eight days of community service.
Also busted Wednesday were Akili Baez, 21, Carmen Lasala-Ayres, 26, and Robin Drysdale, 34, all of Brooklyn; and Luis Santana, 20, of Staten Island, cops said.
They were all charged with making graffiti, criminal trespassing and resisting arrest, and Santana was also charged with possession of marijuana.
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