Man caught vandalizing campaign sign in Southfield

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A man is arrested after police catch him vandalizing a campaign sign for Southfield mayoral candidate Ken Siver. 

There’s a break in the vandalism of Ken Siver for Mayor campaign signs.

“I'm very grateful to Southfield Police, and relieved someone has been apprehended,” said Southfield mayoral candidate Ken Siver.

Police say around 1:00 a.m. Friday, they saw a 44-year old Southfield man vandalizing a campaign sign at 10 Mile Rd. and Rutland.

Just last week the same sign was damaged and vandalized with homophobic slurs. Police are still investigating if the same man is responsible.

“The person actually damaged the top portion of the sign and then took sign off the post," said Southfield Police Chief Eric Hawkins.

Investigators say the person arrested for vandalizing the Siver campaign sign is no stranger to police.

“At some point in the past, this person was arrested for resistive behavior toward police officers, so there were outstanding warrants associated with that behavior,” said Chief Hawkins.

The suspect is also no stranger to Siver who had encounters with him when the suspect came before city council when Siver was a member.

“This is someone who has complained about authority figures in our community for some time and this individual is driven by hate," said Siver.

Siver is up against city council president Sylvia Jordan to be Southfield's next mayor.

The vandalism comes in the shadows of racist flyers related to the upcoming mayoral election that were circulated earlier this year in Southfield.

“This is not Southfield,” said Siver. “We are a model of inclusion of diversity in the city."

Police say they sent out extra patrols after several campaign signs for candidates running for offices in the city were being damaged. Police say despite this arrest the extra patrols will continue.

“And we will catch those individuals,” said Chief Hawkins,” We will arrest them and prosecute them."

Siver just hopes voters will pay attention to his campaign message and not messages of hate and destruction.

“We're not going where others want to drag us. We have stuck to the issues."