Anaheim : Two Face Arraignment in Campaign Sign Theft

Two men arrested on suspicion of stealing City Council candidate Charlene La Claire’s campaign signs were released on their own recognizance Thursday, police said.

James Bruce Patterson and Scott David Browne, both 22 and both of Anaheim, were ordered to appear June 29 for arraignment in North Orange County Municipal Court.

The two men were arrested late Wednesday night at a construction site near Broadway and Citron Street, Police Lt. Steve Brace said.

Police Officer Dean Elliott saw Patterson and Brown pulling a 3-foot-by-8-foot campaign sign out of the ground, Brace said.

Brace said police also found a second sign and campaign literature for council candidate Bill Ehrle in a pickup truck both men ran to when officers tried to arrest them.

Police said they did not know if Patterson and Browne had any connection with Ehrle. “It’s certainly not our intent to imply that,” Police Lt. Marc Hedgpeth said.

Ehrle and La Claire are among 12 candidates whose names will appear on Tuesday’s ballot to fill a vacancy created when former Mayor Don R. Roth was elected to the county Board of Supervisors.

La Claire said that her unsuccessful November campaign for the City Council was also marred by sign-stealing incidents, but that she chose not to seek prosecution. This time, she said, she will press charges.

Brace said that Patterson and Browne “would offer no explanation for their actions” and were booked at the Anaheim City Jail on suspicion of receiving stolen property, a felony, and petty theft, a misdemeanor.