Caught in the Act - Proposition 8 Sign Theft in Palo Alto, California

As I was driving in twork, I stopped a woman who was stealing campaign signs which had been placed by someone along the roadway. When I honked, she looked up, turned and ran back to her car. I pulled to the side and into the street where she had parked. I snapped off a photo of her license plate with my cell phone as she was getting back into her car. From the picture, I believe the license number is 3GUN461 (California Plates). The "N" may have been something else, it's the only unclear letter in the picture. The car is a late model BMW sedan, probably early to mid '90s.

She accused me of planting the signs on the street and said it was illegal. I told her that I had nothing to do with the signs being there, but I had caught her in the act of taking them. She then threatened to take my camera. I told her it was a phone, not a camera and she extended her hand and said, "Give me your phone!" I told her no, what she had done was wrong and I hadn't done anything but recorded a picture of her doing it. She took a picture of me as "proof" that I was harassing her. I told her I had stayed in my car, had only taken a picture of her and would report her act. She was irate at this point and threatened to follow me to my work to "report" me to my office. I told her "Good luck with that." and calmly drove back into the morning traffic. She followed me until about the Caltrain tracks and then lost me as the lanes began moving at different speeds (she was in the one next to me and behind). I drove straight to work from there.

I have since filed a report with the Palo Alto Police Department as a witness to the petty theft.

I don't care who you are, stealing campaign signs is wrong - it's against the law. If you don't like them on public property, contact state or local authorities to have them remove it. Don't stoop to stomping on people's first amendment rights or their rights of private property. Doing so is disgusting and criminal.