Cape Coral man accused of damaging, stealing John Gunter mayoral campaign signs

Cape Coral Police arrested a man accused of destroying and stealing political campaign signs ahead of the mayoral election.

According to the Cape Coral Police Department, on July 2 at around 10 a.m., officers responded to a business in the 1900 block of Del Prado Boulevard South in response to reports of criminal mischief.

The caller reported that multiple campaign signs for Cape Coral mayor candidate John Gunter had been damaged sometime between the evening of July 1 and the morning of July 2. The caller believed the damage to be intentional.

CCPD said that the signs had been cut from their mounting frames and the suspect had removed one sign from the business and two additional signs from a nearby location at Del Prado Boulevard South and Viscaya Parkway.

CCPD's Property Crimes Unit launched an investigation and learned that additional campaign signs for Gunter had also been damaged and stolen from two other Cape Coral locations.

Officers obtained surveillance footage from a business near one of the crime scenes that showed a white pickup truck pulling up by one of the campaign signs. CCPD said the driver then got out of the truck, walked to the sign, and removed it from its mounting.

Detectives were able to identify the vehicle and learned that it was registered to Russell Ringland, CCPD said.

On July 6, officers visited Ringland's home, where they located the white pickup truck in the driveway, CCPD said. Detectives could see what appeared to be crumpled political campaign signs in plain view inside the truck.

On July 8, Ringland was arrested. He faces a charge of criminal mischief. CCPD said the investigation is ongoing.