City officials running for re-election are concerned about campaign signs being stolen in front of the Team Stewart Campaign Headquarters.
Mayor Erin Stewart will be running for re-election of November 7, along with Ward 2 aldermen, Jerrell Hargraves and Kristian Rosado.
Their campaign signs can be seen displayed in front of the East Street headquarters, but as of Friday night, two of them are missing. Surveillance video provided to NBC Connecticut shows the signs being stolen.
The video is time stamped for 10:17 p.m. Friday. It shows one person taking signs off the lawn. A second person in the video is seen carrying what appears to be a campaign sign. It’s unclear whether a third person, seen on the video, may be involved.
One of the stolen campaign signs is for the re-election of Mayor Erin Stewart. The other sign is for the re-election of aldermen Jerrell Hargraves and Kristian Rosado.
According to Mayor Stewart’s campaign manager, Justin Dorsey, what happened at the headquarters is now being investigated by New Britain Police.
Though, the concerns stem from more than just the missing signs in front of the headquarters.
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Rosado said over the last few days, he and Hargraves have received at least 20 complaints from constituents about damaged or stolen campaign signs.
“So I had to go to a couple of residents, pick up the signs that were thrown to the sides, I mean badly damaged, punctured in or left to the side… so it definitely isn’t an isolated incident,” said Rosado, who told us each sign costs about $10 to make.
“I checked in front of my house and it was actually gone in front of my house as well. The same sign,” said Hargraves.
At this time, it is unclear whether the East Street incident is related to the other incidents.
Hargraves is running as a Democrat, while Rosado is running as an unaffiliated party. Both are endorsed by Stewart.
NBC Connecticut has reached out to Mayor Stewart and police for comment.
Check back for more updates on the incident.
