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Last updated on Wednesday, October 29, 2014
(BLOOMINGTON) - A special prosecutor will look into a theft allegation against a Democrat precinct committee woman who is accused of removing “Had Enough? Vote Republican” political yard signs stuck in the grass along roadsides in Monroe County.
A sheriff's office report states that Pamela J. Davidson, a lawyer and estate planner, 35-year resident of Richland Township and head of the Democratic Party in Richland Township Precinct 3, admitted uprooting at least a dozen of the anti-Democrat signs that have cropped up around the county this election season.
Davidson was seen by local law enforcement on Thursday taking down the election signs urging people to vote Republican.
Davidson was on the west side of Indiana State Road 46 near Ellettsville when she saw one of the advertisements leaning against a state highway sign.
She claims she took the sign down because it was leaning and it was littering to leave the signs.
Davidson says all of the signs she removed were on public property near the intersection of SR 46 and Curry Pike, where it is illegal to post them and none of the signs beared the name of any candidate. The signs Davidson took were paid for by the Take Back Monroe County Political Action Committee, which is organized by Grassroots Conservatives. Grassroots officials say of the 2,000 signs displayed by the organization throughout the county, more than 100 of them are currently missing.
A local law enforcement officer saw Davidson putting the signs in the trunk of her vehicle before pulling her over.
Davidson says the officer was confused about how to handle the situation and had to call and check to see if she was even committing a violation.
A report was filed with the County Sheriff's Department, but Davidson was not fined or charged with a crime.
Posting advertising signs, signals or devices -- like the Republican advertisements taken by Davidson -- are not to be posted in right-of-way areas interstates and intersections where local, state or federal roads cross with a state or federal highway, according to the Indiana District of Transportation and upheld by Indiana Code.
Davidson says she was just upholding the law.
But police say that even if Davidson believes she was upholding the law, the law clearly states only an authority having jurisdiction over the highway can remove the signs.
But Republican candidate for Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney Jacob Moore says that when someone is caught red-handed stealing a sign, their word should not be accepted without question and needs to be investigated
If the accusations are true, Davidson could be charged with conversion and or exertion of unauthorized use over someone else's property.
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