4 men arrested in Perrysburg for stealing Romney signs while driving sheet metal union truck
By Pat Galbincea, The Plain Dealer
on November 02, 2012
cleveland.com
PERRYSBURG -- Perrysburg police arrested four Toledo area men early Friday morning on charges of stealing Mitt Romney campaign signs in Wood and Lucas counties in Northwest Ohio.
The signs were found in a pickup truck owned by Sheet Metal Workers International, Union Local 33 in Parma, according to the police report.
Many of the signs -- some measuring as large as 4 feet by 8 feet -- were believed to have been put up by members of Northwest Ohio Conservative Coalition, said John McAvoy, the group's president.
Perrysburg police reported that at 1 a.m., four men – Corey Beaubian, 37, Sean Bresler, 33; and John Russell, 39, all of Toledo; and Christopher Monaghan, 41, of Rossford -- were arrested and charged with receiving stolen property. Police also said the Ford F-150 pickup truck also contained tools such as drills that could have been used to take the large signs down.
The signs were reportedly removed from private property and business locations in Lucas and Wood Counties.
Police were not positive the four men are union members, but the website for Union Local 33 lists Russell and Monaghan as business agents for the Toledo district, and Beaubian's Facebook page lists himself as a sheet metal journeyman since 1999.
"There have been wide reports of Romney signs being stolen for many weeks...this is the first we heard of anyone being caught," McAvoy said.
Attempts to reach Sheet Metal Workers International, Union Local 33 in Parma or union president Michael Coleman for comment were unsuccessful Friday night. |
