Riverside County DA Accused Of Tampering With Opponent's Campaign Sign

RIVERSIDE (CBSLA.com) — Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach has been accused of tampering with an opponent's campaign sign.

Zellerbach, along with aide Ricardo Rubio, were allegedly caught outside an am/pm in Indio Wednesday morning knocking down a large sign belonging to prosecutor Mike Hestrin.

District Attorney's Office Investigator Javier Garcia claims to have witnessed the incident and confronted the duo.

Garcia then used the camera on his cellphone to film the end of the interaction, which reportedly showed Rubio attempting to put the sign back.

In response to the accusations, Zellerbach said Hestrin's sign was accidentally knocked over in heavy winds while he was trying to secure his own sign.

Hestrin, however, said his sign was securely anchored deep into the ground.

"It's shocking and disappointing that the sitting district attorney is so willing to shade the truth. As a law enforcement officer, he has an obligation to tell the truth about what he was doing," Hestrin told the Press-Enterprise.

Zellerbach called a complaint against him, which was filed by Garcia, "much ado about nothing."

In a statement, Zellerbach said, "Mr. Garcia is a strong supporter of my opponent…and an individual who has been very upset with me for my refusal to grant immunity to his son in exchange for grand jury testimony in a triple murder case."

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