A Mount Kisco man has been charged in the theft of multiple political signs in the village, police confirmed.
On Monday, Oct. 5, the Westchester County Police Department received a complaint around 9:50 a.m. about campaign signs that had gone missing in two locations: the intersections of South Bedford Road and Main Street and Lexington Avenue and Main Street.
The unnamed complainant told police that he had attached air tags (small, coin-sized tracking devices) to several of the signs in question. When he saw that the signs had vanished, he was able to track them to a vehicle parked at TJ Maxx on East Main Street, police said.
The responding officer reported seeing the signs in the back of an unoccupied truck there. When the owner arrived and was about to drive away, police stopped him.
The driver, Daniel Bruno, 41, of Boltis Street, was subsequently charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a misdemeanor, police said.
He was issued a desk appearance ticket and was to appear in Mount Kisco Justice Court on Oct. 15.
A total of 20 signs were recovered, including three with the tracking devices. They were valued at $12 apiece and the air tags at $27 each.
Campaign signs for Democrats Tom Luzio and Michael McGuirk, who are running for the Village Board in the November elections, were taken.
McGuirk said he understood that signs for Democratic candidates such as state Sen. Peter Harckham, state Assemblyman Chris Burdick, and Cait Conley, who is running for Congress, were also taken.
McGuirk, who emphasized he is not the one who made the complaint, called the incident “an unfortunate, minor distraction.”
“Our campaign is not about signs, or the location of signs, it’s about our experience working for Mount Kisco and our commitment to the people of Mount Kisco,” he told Halston Media.
Luzio, who also said he was not the complainant, still thought that it was “important that people are held accountable” for their actions.
“I’m just disappointed that someone had apparently felt the need to commit a crime, to put a thumb on the scale of local elections,” he said, adding: “We should be focusing on the issues instead.”
MTK United candidate for Village Board Sean Moran was equally appalled about the alleged sign thefts.
“I think it’s shameful. It’s just so underhanded to steal, damage, or meddle with them anywhere,” he said Friday, noting that the charges should be a message to folks to leave the signs “be.”
MTK United candidate Jennifer Vallejos could not be reached for comment before press time.
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