SUGAR LAND, Texas – The Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office arrested man who allegedly vandalized political campaign signs in the Sugar Land area.
Axel Banegas, 22, is charged with criminal mischief for allegedly destroying campaign signs outside of a shopping plaza on State Highway 6.
Deputies say they obtained a warrant for his arrest and took Banegas to jail on February 24.
Investigators were able to narrow down Banegas as a suspect thanks to security cameras in the parking lot, which they said showed him damaging signs on February 13, as well as his yellow Camaro.
“You kick over a sign, you’re being a ******* dumb***,” said Aaron, from Sugar Land.
That’s one way to put it. Fort Bend County Sheriff Eric Fagan releasing a much more PG statement.
“We condemn the unlawful act of damaging political campaign signs,” says Sheriff Eric Fagan. “Every candidate has the right to campaign, and it is against the law for individuals to vandalize these signs. We take this matter seriously, and the investigation will continue, following up on other leads and suspects to ensure accountability for these actions.”
All up and down State Highway 6, you’ll find broken and destroyed campaign signs.
Within a few blocks, there are dozens of the signs.
“Week in and week out, it seems like someone’s purposely doing that,” said Omar Hussain, who manages a corner store where political signs are in pieces. “I hope it’s not a rivalry between the Democrats and Republicans locally.”
As we’re just two weeks away from the primary election in Texas, the sheriff’s office says they’re still looking for other suspects who allegedly vandalized signs.