Democratic Campaign Worker Charged With Swiping Campaign Signs
Washington DC man charged with theft after allegedly stealing Republican election signs from along Route 17 in Mahwah.
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MAHWAH -- A Democratic campaign worker from Washington, DC was arrested in Mahwah early Tuesday morning after allegedly stealing Republican freeholder election signs from along Route 17, police said.
Mahwah Detective Kevin Herbert and Officer Michael Blondin allegedly saw David Gins, who police said works for the Democratic Coordinating Campaign in New Jersey, removing a "Re-Elect Hermansen and Watkins" freeholder sign from the median at the intersection of Mountainside Road and Route 17 at about 12:40 a.m. Tuesday, Police Chief James Batelli said.
When police approached Gins’s 2002 Chevy Traverse, they found eight more Hermansen-Watkins signs behind the drivers seat and a pile of re-elect Senator Menendez signs in the back of the car, Batelli said.
Gins admitted to taking down the freeholder signs, and said he took them “because other unknown people had been taking Senator Menendez signs,” Batelli said.
Gins was arrested and charged with theft, police said. Two other people in the car with him, who police said work for the Democratic Coordinating Campaign, were not arrested or charged, police said.
Gins is scheduled to appear in Mahwah Municipal Court on Nov. 13.
Hermansen called the incident "sad," and said he hopes his signs will all be returned to where they were. "Unfortunately this is something you have to deal with every year, but I hope we can get them back up and move on," he said.
Calls to Menendez's campaign offices in Newark and DC Tuesday night were not answered.
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Alan Sohn
9:59 am on Wednesday, October 24, 2012
If the signs were at a median at an intersection, who were they stolen from? Taking a sign from someone's lawn would seem to be a genuine case of theft, but removal of signs from public property would appear to be an excellent example of trash removal. The blight of campaign signs on public roadways is visual pollution, and I can assure you that none of the campaigns will send their staff and supporters out to collect their signs on November 7th, placing an additional burden on public workers to clean up after politicians.