Craig Otto, 23
A Lake Elsinore man was arrested Sunday after officers found several items in his home linking him to recent taggings on area election campaign signs.
Lake Elsinore police arrested Craig Otto, 23, in connection with the vandalism, said Sgt. Raymond Nava with the Lake Elsinore Police Department.
Nava said on Friday, officers found election campaign signs posted in the area of Riverside Drive and Grand Avenue vandalized with spray paint, crossing out a specific candidate’s name.
The signs vandalized were those of incumbent’s Kim Cousins, president and CEO of the Lake Elsinore Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Kim Cousins (Photo courtesy of www.electkimcousins.org)
Cousins is vying for one of three seats on the Lake Elsinore Unified school board on the Nov. 2 ballot.
A total of 31 of Cousins’ signs were damaged.
Cousins said he feels the vandalism was an act of retaliation against his son-in-law.
In areas where multiple candidates placed signs, only his was defaced, Cousins said.
“It’s unfortunate to take it out on me. If you don’t like my position, vote your conscience at the poll.”
Cousins said in all his years running for office, he had never seen vandalism to election signs like this.
“You have the occasional ‘mischief-ness’ out there, with signs being knocked over, pushed down. But this is different.”
Cousins said many around town have voiced their opinions about the vandalism.
“They’re very mad about what’s happened and say it’s un-American.”
While the act is frustrating, Cousins said “it’s all behind us now,” and is spending his time and energy trying to clean up the mess.
He said there are quite a few signs that cannot be salvaged.
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Conscience! Conscience! Sheesh, and you’re running for school board? At least you won’t be in front of the English classrooms, will you?
Unfortunately, Otto is smarter than Cousins, which says alot considering this incident
You get what you and your family deserve after everything that is being done to Mr. Otto.
NOBODY deserves this kind of LAW braking from any body. Mr. Otto and his family should be made to pay for everything he has done. and HIS parents should be made to work along side of him every weekend clean up Lake Elsione. they should be ashamed of them self’s. AND YOU for saying that bout MR. Cousins and his family.
Grow up and show these young people that’s just not right anybody doing vandalism it is costing this town ALOT of money to clean it up and that money could be used for our crappy street’s.
All of you need to go back to school. All of you must be from Lake Elsinore. There are a lot of taggers around that town and all they get is a slap on the hand. But you take one good kid that does it to a council man(over paid and under worked city employee)it gets this big. I wish i could have that kind of power and authority as this council man has. PATHETIC!!!!!
Jeff. What does the labor commissioner have to do with this article? Its about a kid that got caught tagging not you life story.
Jeff,
What the heck doe the labor commissioner have to do with this article. Its about a kid tagging not your life story.
A) Not sure if anyone noticed, but he is 23, so not sure why the poster think the parents can, or should, be held accountable. If they pushed him to do it as part of some weird agenda, well, he still get all the blame.
B) It states that he is the President of the Chamber of Commerce. He is not on the city council. Cheer up sir! Even common citizens have the POWER to press charges for vandalism.
C) What is exactly is “being done” to Mr. Otto that his family should “get what it deserves”? It would seem he made this problem for himself.