Thief Snaps Up Dozens of Campaign Signs

It took volunteers several hours to set up a bunch of "Bill Clarkson for Mayor" signs around the city.

But in a span of a few days, more than 100 of them disappeared.

Police are looking into it, but there's not much they can do unless someone calls in with a tip, said Lt. Mike Boehrer.

"Officers got anonymous calls that some people were seen driving recklessly and stopping and taking signs," he said. "It was a silver car."

Wastes volunteers' time, money

Bill Clarkson, who's running against Councilwoman Carol Rowley for mayor, said he's ticked off because the signs cost money and valuable time.

"Its too hot to be out in the middle of a work day putting up signs," he added.

Calls to other candidates weren't returned, but police said they haven't heard reports of anyone else's signs being taken. Boehrer said it's typical to have signs get stolen or defaced during political campaigns, but 100 is a lot for a local race.

"It’s the kind of thing that goes along with campaigns," Boehrer said. "Every time the signs go up there’s someone messing with them."

Clarkson said he just hopes it ends soon. Not just for his sake, but for other candidates and his supporters who volunteered their afternoons to put up the signs in the 90-degree heat.

"We hope that this was merely a person or group of people that felt the need to be destructive, and not a calculated effort to negatively impact our campaign," Clarkson wrote to his supporters earlier this week.

How serious is sign theft?

If anyone's caught, they could face a stiff penalty.

"It’s a crime to steal them because it’s not their property," Boehrer said. "To my knowledge it’s a misdemeanor so whoever’s taking these signs could face up to a year county jail and a $1,000 dollar fine."

Stealing election signs is considered misdemeanor theft, but could also be reduced to an infraction, which is about the same level penalty as a speeding ticket.

A woman running for Pomona City Council got slapped with an infraction and $250 fine earlier this year for stealing her opponents signs, according to the Inland Daily Bulletin.