#NYC vandal who tagged dozens of cars given appearance ticket

Looks like, now, the letter “A” stands for “arrest.”

A graffiti vandal who allegedly scrawled crudely drawn letter “A’s” on the side of nearly two dozen cars in Queens was busted Friday, cops said.

Herberto Torres, 57, — who has 43 prior arrests — was hit with 46 counts of making graffiti and criminal mischief after being arrested at 12:15 a.m. Friday, cops said. 

He allegedly spray-painted multiple cars with letter “A” — which is a nickname he goes by, according to authorities and police sources. 

The alleged graffiti bandit was tracked to an autobody shop where he worked, because one of the customer’s vehicles was used in the crimes, sources said.

After his arrest he was let free on a desk appearance ticket, sources said.

Cops tallied 65 graffiti incidents dating back to late March — and at this point, Torres has been charged with 46 of them, police said. The remaining incidents are under investigation.

On March 26, on 35 Street between 31 Avenue and Broadway, 20 vehicles were vandalized between 8:30 and 10:11 a.m., police said.

Then on May 18, between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m., 20 more vehicles were targeted on 27th Street between 23rd Avenue and Ditmars Boulevard, police said. 

The next day, 17 vehicles were graffitied on 33rd Street between 23rd Avenue and Ditmars Boulevard, between 9 a.m. and 11:45 a.m., authorities said.

The final spree came on May 22, when eight vehicles were spray-painted on 32nd Street between 34th Avenue and Broadway between 7:35 a.m. and 10 a.m., cops said. 

Back in October, Torres was busted for allegedly tagging more than 50 cars in Jackson Heights with spray paint spelling out “BLM” or “AOC,” police said.

He copped to tagging the vehicles because of his affiliation with the Black Lives Matter movement, police sources said at the time. 

Prior to Friday’s arrest, Torres has been arrested 43 times, according to police. 

He served time for second-degree attempted robbery, fifth-degree attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance and third degree robbery in 1993, 1995 and 1998, respectively, state corrections records show.