A sheriff's office employee was one of three men arrested after getting caught on video damaging a Black Lives Matter sign on private property, authorities say.
The sheriff's office said it recognized one of its employees, Stone, 60, in footage the owner posted online of a man ripping through the sign with a knife on June 13 and June 19 and initiated a criminal investigation. Stone was off duty at the time of both incidents.
Darrin Stone on camera using a knife to take down a sign hung from a homeowner's fence facing Westlake Boulevard in Thousand Oaks, Calif.,"I'm deeply disappointed that one of our employees involved himself in this type of illegal activity, especially when this is an infringement on someone's First Amendment right to freedom of speech.""We hold our employees to the highest standards, and there will be consequences for this," he said.
Stone has been an employee of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office since 2005, and was assigned most recently as a service technician at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility in Ventura. He was arrested Friday and was issued a misdemeanor citation for vandalism, the sheriff's office said. He has cooperated with investigators.
Anderson, 59, an investigative assistant with the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, was also arrested and cited for vandalism after he was caught in video footage cutting and attempting to remove the sign before he noticed the camera and left it at the scene on May 31, the sheriff's office said.Saturday that Anderson had resigned after working in the office for approximately four months.
A third man, Moore, 58, was also arrested and issued a misdemeanor citation for vandalism. He is accused of spray painting graffiti on the sign on June 11. Moore was tracked down through the company name and phone number prominently displayed on his work truck, the sheriff's office said.
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