San Leandro councilmember caught on video removing opponent's yard sign

Bryan Azevedo said it was misunderstanding, but a second video shows a woman emerging from the same care to remove another sign

A surveillance video shows San Leandro Councilmember Bryan Azevedo removing his opponent’s yard sign and replacing it with his own.

ELECTION 2024

54 days to Election Day

SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL - DISTRICT 2

—SIGN OF THE TIMES—Embattled San Leandro Councilmember Bryan Azevedo, was caught on video removing the campaign yard signs of his opponent, Ed Hernandez, from a resident’s lawn in the Washington Manor neighborhood of San Leandro.

—Video of the two separate incidents was posted to social media by the homeowner on Wednesday morning.

—In the first video, Azevedo is seen removing Hernandez’s sign and placing it inside his vehicle. Azevedo then replaced the sign with his own red, white, and blue campaign sign.

—In the second video, the same vehicle arrives at the same location. A woman exits the same vehicle and removes another Hernandez sign from the homeowner’s lawn. She places the sign in the backseat, gets in, and the vehicle hurriedly speeds away.

—Azevedo called the incident a misunderstanding between him and the homeowner in a posting on social media.

—“This was a misunderstanding and I’m sorry. I didn’t try to hide or anything and I saw the camera. I’m really sorry about that,” Azevedo wrote on Wednesday.

—The homeowner said Azevedo asked if he could place his yard sign on her property. She agreed, but understood Azevedo would be adding his yard sign, not replacing Hernandez’s yard sign.

—“A few days later, Ed came to replace the sign with our permission and then about a week later, our sign was gone (without our permission),” the homeowner wrote on Facebook. “We checked our camera and it was the same car, but a lady took the sign away this second time. I think it’s not right to take out signs without the owner’s permission.”

—The stealing of campaign yard signs is considered petty theft under Sections 484(a) and 488(a) of the California Penal Code, a misdemeanor that carries up to six months in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000.

—News of the sign-removal video is again raising the temperature of the electorate just days after Azevedo was involved in a violent confrontation with a former councilmember, leading that person to be injured.

—In addition, another former councilmember was injured attempting to stop the melee. Both filed police reports.

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