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Thefts signal primary election season Candidates' campaign signs disappear or get chopped up - 'We just put another back' By DANI DODGE As predictable as the turning of leaves in the fall and tulip blossoms in the spring, thefts of campaign signs are heralding the primary election season. "Some white pickup truck with black doors was going around stealing signs ... and they've also vandalized one of my large signs, too," said Dennis Richardson, a candidate for State House District 4. "It sounds to me like the opposition is worried." But Richardson's opponent, incumbent Cherryl Walker, says she, too, has been the victim of vandals. "We've only had about six taken, but most are from one location on Williams Highway south of Grants Pass," Walker said. "I really didn't have any stolen two years ago, but this year I've had five taken from the very same location and they are just flat taken, the stakes and signs and everything pulled out. "We just put another back." Police say they've come to expect reports of sign theft as elections roll around. "Some of it is misguided political activism," said Medford Lt. Mike Moran, "They think taking them somehow benefits their candidate. But most are just criminal mischief when people take them to be funny, I guess, or kids take them and put them up in someone else's yard." The Jackson County sheriff's office received a report Monday of vandalism to one of Commissioner Jack Walker's 4-by-8-foot re-election signs at Hanley Road and Rossanley Drive in Central Point. The $140 sign was chopped into three pieces. "It's just a shame at this time of year you see this kind of thing happening," Jack Walker said. "It's political time and you start seeing people who like my opponent better. ..." Sheriff's Lt. Dewey Patten said officials have come to expect this kind of dirty politics. "I'm sure it's not the actual opponent," Patten said. "It's someone who really wants someone else in the office and who in their warped little mind thinks it's OK to knock down someone else's sign - but it's not." Patten noted that theft of a lawn sign could result in a third-degree theft conviction, which has a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Theft of the bigger, more expensive signs could result in a second-degree theft charge, which has a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine. Sign theft and vandalism also could result in criminal mischief and trespass charges. But it's pretty rare that cops catch the culprits in sign-stealing capers. "It's tough to catch someone in the act," Patten said. "One thing that may lead us to catch them is a traffic stop and we find their back seat is full of signs. But most times, they don't take it to keep it. "They usually just throw it in the blackberry bushes." Moran said several years ago an officer in the Medford police department did come across a candidate with his vehicle full of his opponent's signs. "He had a lame excuse," Moran said. "He said that he found them and was returning them. We couldn't really prove much." While it seems that sign-stealing comes with the campaign territory, some candidates are offended. "This is my first campaign. I take it personally," Richardson said. "It's bad for politics and it's bad for all the campaigns." Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.