PITTSBURGH — A candidate running against Pittsburgh City Councilman Ricky Burgess has accused him of trying to steal her campaign signs from her yard.
According to Judy Ginyard, she found Burgess in the middle of Thomas Boulevard last Friday at 10:45 p.m. about 2 ½ blocks away from his home but only feet from her backyard and inches from her campaign sign.
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"And when I saw him, he was reaching out to grab the sign, and I said to him, ‘What are you doing?’ and he said, ‘I'm not stealing your sign,’” she said.
Ginyard showed Channel 11 News several cellphone pictures that she snapped of Burgess near her sign. She said Burgess frightened her and she called police, who reported the case as harassment.
"The police officer interpreted what I told him and that's what he put down,” she said.
Burgess issued a statement in regard to Ginyard’s accusations, which he called “payback” for his refusal to have any further debates with her after he says she became involved in a fight with her aunt during a debate on April 16.
"It comes as no surprise that Judith Ginyard is manufacturing an incident of harassment when in truth she was lying in wait ever since looking for some opportunity for payback,” he wrote. “I have been very careful not to come anywhere near her. I was walking on a public sidewalk when she confronted me, yelled at me and took my picture. It is disturbing that she has a desire to victimize me or my family members.”
Authorities have not yet said whether the report they took will actually result in a harassment charge against Burgess.