Crime & Safety

Pair Accused Of Removing Trump-Pence Signs In Tucson: VIDEO

Two people were arrested and charged with removing Trump-Pence election signs in the Tucson area, the Pima County Sheriff's Department said.

Signs in support of President Donald Trump and other Republican candidates on a lawn of a suburban Dublin, Ohio, home on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. Similar signs were stolen in Tucson, according to the Pima County Sheriff's Department.
Signs in support of President Donald Trump and other Republican candidates on a lawn of a suburban Dublin, Ohio, home on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020. Similar signs were stolen in Tucson, according to the Pima County Sheriff's Department. (AP Photo/Julie Carr Smyth)

TUCSON, AZ — Two people accused of removing Trump-Pence signs in the Tucson-area have been arrested and charged, the Pima County Sheriff's Department said.

The incident occurred Sunday night just before 11 p.m. when deputies from the sheriff's department responded to a report of two people in a silver Ford Focus vandalizing political signs near Sunrise Drive and North Swan Road, officials said in a news release.

"The Pima County Sheriff’s Department airplane, Survey Two, located the vehicle and observed an occupant of the car remove a sign in the area of Pima Canyon Drive and Skyline Drive and place it in the trunk," the department said.

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The deputies pulled the car over shortly after and found two political signs in the back of the trunk during a search.

The driver, 25-year-old Aerin Mazza, and 23-year-old Christian Fernandez, the passenger who was seen taking signs, were charged with the removal of a political sign, a class 2 misdemeanor. They have since been released.

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According to Mazza's LinkedIn page, she was previously a field representative for the Progressive Turnout Project, a grassroots Political Action Committee dedicated to getting Democrats to the polls. A spokesperson for the organization told Patch she is not a current employee.

"This year is an election year," Kevin Adger, spokesperson for the Pima County Sheriff's Department, said in a video introducing the surveillance footage. "Tensions are high and there is a lot on the line. That's why we encourage our community to go out and vote. One thing we can't encourage is theft."

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