There are a lot of signs around the neighborhood telling people to make sure they're registered to vote and how to get a mail-in ballot. They are put up by a number of local volunteers. At least one of them is associated with an organization called vote411 (https://www.vote411.org/).
Last Friday, on the way to work, I came upon a car stopped at a 4-way stop on the corner of Elliot and Audubon. Eventually, I realized there was no one in the car. Across the street there was an older gentleman, wearing American flag shorts, walking down the sidewalk. As I drove past and looked in the rear view mirror, I saw that he was taking up the signs and putting them in his car. That didn't seem like something he should be doing.
So I pulled in a driveway and turned around and went back to see what was going on. As I approached the man getting into his car, I took a picture.
I turned in past his car and took another picture so I could get his license plate number.
I drove a little further on and turned around to follow and see what he was up to. When I got back onto Elliot Rd., I could see that he had stopped at the next intersection and was preparing to harvest a couple more signs. I stopped behind him and got out my new iPhone 11Pro and started up the video. He decided that he would let all the cars piling up behind me go ahead before he grabbed more signs. He came around the front of his car and motioned the cars to go ahead. The two cars behind me went around both of us as I kept the camera rolling. At that point, he came toward me and I slowly drove off with the camera focused on him.
The movie doesn't give you a good look at the perpetrator, so I pulled a frame so that you can see him better. He looks like somebody's angry grandfather.
When I got to work, I called the police station and reported what I had seen and that the man was driving a white Mitsubishi SUV with license plate # BMZ-6679. A bit later, an officer called to verify the information. After calling the police, I went on the Nextdoor website and posted this about the event:
Man seen removing "vote by mail" instruction signs. This morning on the way to work on Elliot Rd., I saw a elderly white gentleman, wearing American flag shorts, removing the little yard signs with instructions for voting by mail. I got pictures of him, his car and his license plate. He didn't seem very happy with me filming him so I didn't stop to chat. I did call the police and let them know.
The next day, my neighbor, who is a member of that vote411 group, walked up to talk to me about my Nextdoor post. She told me there were a few more sightings of the guy and that he had threatened to run over one member of her group. She told me she would keep me informed and put me on the email making the rounds in her group about this guy.
Well, later that day I received an email from one member of the group saying that the police had tracked him down and recovered about 16 signs. Here's what she said:
The Chapel Hill Police have recovered 16 signs from the back of the SUV that XXXX identified. Officer Wheeler brought them to my house just now. I suspect this was just today’s haul.
The culprit lives in Chapel Hill, was inebriated when the police talked with him, and apparently not that concerned that what he was doing is illegal. The officers talked with him about the illegality of stealing the signs, threatening someone with harm, and driving drunk.
We can press charges for theft and XXXXX could press charges for threat to harm with a deadly weapon (a car). Both would be misdemeanors. He would have to appear in court, probably in late September or October. He could do this some more in the meantime, because he will get only a summons to appear in court.
Here’s Officer Wheeler with the recovered signs explaining this to me. He said we could think about whether we want to press charges. I’m leaning toward pressing charges.
I wrote them back and told them I'd be happy to provide any more information if they needed it and was willing to testify in court if need be. And that's the last that I've heard of it.
