Criminal charges are being considered after a politically-engaged motorist was seen around 5:20 p.m. Monday, Oct. 14, pulling an opposing party’s candidate sign from the intersection of south Main Street and west Auburn Avenue.
Officers of the Bellefontaine Police Department on patrol eastbound on west Auburn Avenue near the intersection of south Main Street observed a green Lincoln stop in the right lane of southbound traffic on south Main Street, exit his vehicle and walk around the front of the car near the west side walk. At that time, an officer saw the suspect remove a political sign for Bernie Moreno, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, from the boulevard. The sign reportedly was next to a political sign for Tamie Wilson, a Democrat running for Congress.
While the suspect was out of his vehicle, the traffic light for the north/southbound traffic on south Main Street had turned green. The suspect returned to his vehicle with the political sign, which had been pulled off its metal wiring.
A traffic stop was conducted in the parking lot of the Oasis Drive-Thru. When the suspect’s vehicle stopped, a Sherrod Brown sticker was observed on the rear of the vehicle.
The suspect claimed the sign was in the public tree line. The driver told law enforcement the sign did not belong to him and that he would never put a sign in the tree line. He claimed to have taken the sign because it was in the tree line where it did not belong.
The suspect denied taking the sign out of any political motivation and maintained he took it because it was in the tree line obscuring the view. He added that he would have taken the Tamie Wilson sign as well but did not have time before the light changed.
The suspect said he believed the sign to have been abandon property and that he planned to dispose of the sign because he did not think the plastic was recyclable. Officers contacted a representative of the Logan County Republican Party, but were unable to confirm who owned the Bernie Moreno sign.
A copy of the report was sent to the Bellefontaine Municipal Prosecutor for review.