The Durango Police Department is on the trail of a suspect who has been stealing campaign signs in the Durango City Council election.
Kathleen Adams reported the thefts to police Friday after her neighbors saw someone taking a Dick White yard sign from her lawn. They got the license plate number, which she reported, she said. Adams lives in the downtown historic district.
“This also happened at (Mayor Pro-tem) Dean Brookie’s house,” she said. “He just lives a couple of blocks away from me. And I’ve heard that it’s happening in other parts of town, too.”
One of Brookie’s neighbors, she said, also saw the sign being taken, and described a similar car at the scene.
“He said he yelled at the guy who was taking the sign, and he just looked at him and threw the sign in his trunk and left,” Adams said.
Vandalizing or stealing campaign yard signs is not new in La Plata County. The 2008 election saw numerous signs vandalized in Durango and in the county. In 2011, Mayor Sweetie Marbury’s signs were stolen from her own yard, and she replanted them in frozen ground.
Lt. Ray Shupe said the officer handling the case has followed up on the license plate and is tracking down the suspect.
“We don’t know yet if it was the owner of the car who was driving it when the thefts occurred,” he said.
Adams, an ardent member of the Democratic Party, is more concerned that someone is interfering with her rights during an election that about the thefts.
“Interestingly, the thief is only taking Dick White signs,” she said with a laugh, “and leaving the Sweetie Marbury signs untouched.”
abutler@durangoherald.com
This story has been modified to reflect the part of town where Adams lives.
