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Why Did A Sacramento County Candidate Take Her Opponent's Sign?

RIO LINDA (CBS13) — A candidate for the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors caught on camera stealing an opponent's sign—or was she?

A woman took pictures of Teresa Stanley and posted them to social media, but it turns out the picture may not tell the whole story.

At best it's petty politics; at worst petty theft.

Colleen Conroy's photo shows the candidate for Sacramento County supervisor removing an opponent's campaign sign and putting it in her trunk.

"It just shows the caliber and what level you're willing to go to get elected; where do you draw the line," she said.

Staley is an elected Folsom-Cordova Unified School District board member. She didn't want to go on camera, but did say over the phone she took the sign, explaining the church where the sign was placed hadn't given her opponent permission to put it there, and a gardener was having trouble mowing the lawn around it.

"It's not her property," Conroy said. "So even if he wasn't given permission, call him, or they can take it down."

That sign belonged to her opponent Mike Kozlowski.

"She's offered to bring it back," he said, adding he's accepted her explanation. "It obviously looks like something more than it probably is. I was pleased that someone took the time to take the photo, and share it with us."

Conroy took the cellphone photo outside the Rio Linda Elverta Food Closet where she volunteers and Stanley was visiting for her campaign.

"It's not right to take something that doesn't belong to her," she said.

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