Police in Tempe say they’ve finally arrested a man behind a wave of “Penis Man” graffiti that has cropped up across the city, years after another vandal with the same calling card warned there were “more Penis Men out there.”
Authorities announced Thursday (Sept. 25) that 36-year-old Tanner Ballengee was taken into custody in Phoenix following a months-long investigation. Police say Ballengee admitted to spraying the words “Penis Man” in at least two cases near Rural Road and Apache Boulevard in July and August 2025.
According to a department statement, officers have fielded “multiple reports of the phrase ‘Penis Man’ spray-painted on buildings in Tempe” in recent months. However, many of the incidents weren’t caught on surveillance cameras.
“Graffiti is not a harmless act — it costs property owners money, hurts local businesses, and affects the look and feel of our neighborhoods,” the Tempe Police Department said.
Ballengee now faces two counts of criminal damage.
The arrest comes more than four years after a different “Penis Man” case made headlines. In 2020, a Tempe man named Dustin Shomer was arrested and accused of tagging the same phrase.
Shomer, who called the incident a “cop overreach,” later claimed he wasn’t the only one responsible, telling reporters at the time, “I'm not the original. There’s a whole Penis Man army out there.”