Newly Elected Councilwoman Charged With Stealing Opponent's Campaign Signs

SANTA ANA (CBSLA) – A newly elected Buena Park City councilwoman is facing a misdemeanor petty theft charge for allegedly stealing signs critical of her candidacy, a prosecutor said Monday.

Youngsun "Sunny" Park, 48, of Buena Park, was charged Dec. 7 and faces six months in jail if convicted.

Park and an unidentified man are accused of taking about a dozen signs, reading "No Sunny Park, Carpetbagger," that were put up by the Committee for a Better Buena Park at St. Andrews Avenue and Los Coyotes Drive, said Deputy District Attorney Jake Jondle.

She was caught on video with the signs stacked on the backseat of a car by incumbent Mayor Virginia Vaughn's husband.

"Sunny Park, stealing signs," a male voice says in the video.

Park, wearing a white dress with a floral print, is seen bringing her phone up to also start recording the encounter, replies back, "No. You see, it's illegal," possibly in reference to the sign's message.

On her Facebook page, Park said that her campaign signs had gone missing or stolen since her campaign began.

"Virginia Vaughn mass produced and placed negative signs with lies about me," she said in part. "This type of dirty politics has no place in our city."

Authorities have not determined the identity of the man who is accused of taking the signs with Park on Oct. 19.

Messages left with Park's law firm were not immediately returned. It was not determined who Park has hired to represent her.

Park is set to be sworn into office Tuesday evening at the Buena Park City Council meeting. She's scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 19 at the North Justice Center in Fullerton.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)