Teen charged with political sign theft

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on May 11, 2007

Police have brought charges against an Amherst teenager they say may have been responsible for the theft of dozens of political signs last month.

A 17-year-old Amherst teen will be summoned to court on a charge of larceny under $250 as the result of his being identified in the theft of at least one "No More Overrides" sign from a West Street home on the night of April 21.

Because he is being summoned, his name has not yet been made public.

More than 75 of these political signs were taken from lawns between April 21 and 22, thefts that came little more than a week before the May 1 Proposition 21/2 debt-exclusion override for $2.5 million was defeated by voters.

Police Lt. Ron Young, head of the detective bureau, said the charges were filed after police recovered a cell phone found by the West Street homeowner.

"The cell phone recovered by a resident at the scene of the larceny produced information that tracked us back to this 17-year-old youth," Young said.

Young said the motivation for the boy's actions appeared to be primarily to cause mischief, though he said the boy attempted to justify the theft by expressing concern about the impact on the schools if the override were defeated.

Many of the signs, of which 150 had been placed on Amherst lawns on April 20, were later located at the high school, where they had been dumped and the word "no" had been cut out.

Young said other people may have been responsible for the thefts, but the boy that is being summoned has not identified any people who may have helped him.

"The investigation is continuing and we will follow any leads," Young said.

Being summoned to court means the boy will face a show cause hearing before a clerk magistrate, who will determine if an arraignment should be held.