A candidate for Clovis City Council has been arrested for allegedly stealing his opponents signs.
Clovis police arrested Herman Nagra, a local businessman, after Councilman Vong Mouanoutoua reported his signs had been stolen. Police say a total of 42 signs valued at $1,200 were missing.
Police reviewed city video cameras and obtained a license plate number of a suspect vehicle.
“The vehicle, a white Ford F-150 truck, showed to be registered to a family member of Herman Nagra, a current Clovis City Council Candidate,” Clovis police said in a news release Thursday. “Two suspects were seen committing the thefts. One suspect matched the description of Mr. Nagra.”
A search warrant was issued, and police searched Nagra’s home Thursday morning. The stolen signs were found in his backyard, police said.
Nagra, 31, faces felony grand theft charges. Police say he admitted to taking the signs.
Fresno County jail records show he was released at 11:51 a.m. He was held on $10,000 bail.
Candidates React
Five candidates are running for two council seats. The election is March 2.
“I am disappointed that a candidate running for office would behave this way. Clovis is much better than this,” Mouanoutoua, running for his second term, said. “We must be better than this. Together, we will keep Clovis a safe and premier place to live.
Candidate Diane Pearce had similar sentiments. Her signs were also allegedly stolen.
“What an embarrassing and disappointing story. Let this be a lesson to all future candidates that they should focus on their own campaign and forget about dirty tricks. I appreciate the quick work of the Clovis Police Department in getting to the bottom of the stolen signs,” Pearce said.
“I was very disheartened to hear that this had occurred. I am grateful to the Clovis Police Department for their quick work to resolve this situation,” candidate Noah Elbaz said.
Councilwoman Lynne Ashbeck said she is “outraged.”
“We all learned as kids that actions speak louder than words — so we learned a lot today about how little respect this individual has for the citizens of Clovis, for our community and for the privilege of serving in elected office. These actions do not reflect our community’s values,” Ashbeck said.
Campaign Manager Unaware
Nagra’s campaign manager Gurprit Uppal sounded shocked when reached by GV Wire℠ for comment.
“He was arrested?” she said. “I was not aware …. oh, my goodness … oh, wow.”
Video of Alleged Sign Stealing
