The sheriff's department says he's the oldest tagger they've busted even though the suspect, a 74-year-old, is more of “snipe” marketer who's allegedly been plastering bumper stickers around town that read, “Who Is John Scott?”

The bizarre saga unfolded after sheriff's investigators began searching for the older man behind the stickers that have often been seen in and around transit stops and on buses. A sheriff's official Friday confirmed to LA Weekly that they found a suspect, later identified as, you guessed it, Mr. John Scott, 74.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the man was allegedly caught putting up stickers inside the 7th and Metro Center subway station Friday morning. It's not clear what charges were recommended, although vandalism seems a likely allegation, given the deputies' description of the suspect as a “slap tagger.”

It seems that Scott is really a one-man marketing machine. The stickers lead to a “Who Is John Scott” website that really doesn't answer the question. It does, however, offer for sale “Who Is John Scott” t-shirts, baseball caps and even those pesky bumper stickers ($1 plus shipping and handling). He even has a Facebook page.

Sniping — placing stickers and posters around town for various products — is a mainstream pasttime in L.A. that is often done by marketing companies with street teams for the benefit of some very large music, media and movie corporations. So we're kind of rooting for Scott. Maybe we'll buy the t-shirt and try to rock it — ironic style.

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