The BHPD plans to present cases involving sign theft to the D.A.’s office. (Beverly Press/Park Labrea News file photo)

The Beverly Hills Police Department is continuing to investigate multiple incidents of political sign theft involving candidates in the City Council election.

The thefts appear to be widespread and are occurring throughout the city, according to many of the candidates. The BHPD issued a press release on Feb. 14 about the political sign thefts and said detectives are investigating them as crimes.

Capt. Elisabeth Albanese said the thefts have been reported during the past three weeks and at least one suspect has been identified. The suspect was not named because the case is under investigation and the BHPD is in the process of submitting the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for criminal filing consideration.

The BHPD believes other individuals are involved with the thefts and are trying to identify them.

“I don’t have the number [of thefts] but we’ve had several reports. They are all being handled as one investigation,” Albanese said. “The reports all involved the same candidate. We don’t name victims and we don’t want to jeopardize the investigation.”

Albanese said the suspect who has been identified is not one of the 10 candidates running for Beverly Hills City Council. She declined to provide any further information about them. The suspect is potentially facing a misdemeanor theft charge.

Because the alleged crime is a misdemeanor, the BHPD will not arrest the suspect unless the D.A.’s office files formal charges, Albanese said. If charged, the suspect will be arrested and information including their name will be released. A spokesperson for the D.A.’s office had no information about such a case being filed yet.

Despite the BHPD stating the thefts it is investigating involved signs belonging to the same candidate, nearly all of the 10 candidates said they have had some of their signs stolen or damaged. However, all denied reporting it to the police, stating that political sign theft is common during the city’s elections. Candidate Russell Stuart posted a video on social media on Feb. 16 that he said shows someone taking one of his signs.

“I was expecting it,” he said. “A lot of my supporters said they have had someone steal my signs. I‘ve had my signs found in alleys cut in half. Did I report it, no. In the end, it shows the ugliness of politics.”

Councilwoman Sharona Nazarian said political sign theft occurs during every city election and  it happened to her during her City Council campaign in 2022. She called for civility.

“When I served on the Human Relations Commission, we passed the Civility Statement. The words in that statement are powerful and more important than ever before,” Nazarian said. “The residents of Beverly Hills will choose two new council members from a group of qualified candidates. I pledge to work with those selected by the people, as we serve our city together into the future.“

Lt. Andrew Myers said on Feb. 20 that there are no updates in the sign theft investigations, and no new information on them was available as of press time.

Authorities stressed that the BHPD considers political sign theft a very serious crime and all reports will be investigated and presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for criminal filing. For information and to report a theft, call the BHPD at (310)550-4951.