"Don't tell me you're my heartbreaker," this line from Justin Bieber's hit single "Heartbreaker" might just be fitting to what the young music icon could be singing to the police of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who have pressed charges against him for spray-painting some graffiti in the country during his music tour.
Local authorities investigated the matter and listened to testimonies of those who might have been involved or witnessed the act. Photographers who took pictures of the pop star while engaged in creating "street art," security guards, and police officers were all asked about the matter.
Bieber will not be jailed or arrested but will have to settle a fine although vandalism in Brazil can incur a jail time of up to a year. The court has not yet determined the penalty of the 19-year-old singer.
The vandalism charge against Bieber was built on evidences found on the singer's own Instagram account where he posted proud about his creations on the walls of the old Hotel Nacional. A local news outlet decided to publish the photos, which led to the singer being held legally responsible for the graffiti. Brazilian authorities charged the singer for defacing a monument or building by graffiti or through other means.
"Every place I have tagged has been approved I do not suggest tagging private property.. I still suck but i have fun doing it ;)," said Bieber on one of his Instagram captions.
"This is my escape," another caption stated.
On another photo of the spray painting rampage was captioned, "Who's gon stop me haaannn."
The singer was apparently misled or misunderstood where he was approved to spray paint.
According to a report on MTV, Bieber had the go-signal to graffiti at the Morro do Vidigal just a few hops from the Olympic Village. However, the singer's camp found that the location might pose some security risk so they decided to let the pop star take the painting frenzy somewhere else. The camp had no permission to graffiti the Hotel Nacional.
"It's a crime. Even celebrities need to know that here in our country, laws are to be obeyed. Even if he did this without knowing if it was lawful or not, it doesn't matter. What is important is that the act is a crime and he will have to be legally responsible for that," said Brazilian police officer Antonio Ricardo.
Before Bieber was questioned about his acts, the singer had already left for the next leg of his tour.
