Charge against Buena Park councilwoman in sign-theft case is dropped after jury deadlocks

A petty theft charge against a Buena Park councilwoman was dropped Thursday, Dec. 12 after a deadlocked jury led to a mistrial.

Buena Park Councilwoman Youngsun “Sunny” Park was charged with stealing campaign signs in October 2018, weeks before she was elected. The jury was split 10-2, with the majority voting that Park was not guilty of petty theft when she and a man took campaign signs that called her a “carpetbagger” and put them in her car.

Judge Beatriz M. G. Gordon declared a mistrial and dismissed the case.

On Oct. 19, 2018, Park and an unidentified man drove to a Buena Park neighborhood and stopped behind Victor Perrin, a member of a political group that opposed Park who had just placed a sign by the side of the road that read “No Sunny Park Carpetbagger.”

Perrin testified that as he was pulling away in his car, he saw a man get out of Park’s car, remove the sign and put it in Park’s back seat. Perrin captured the next two minutes of the incident on cellphone video, which was played several times in court.

In the video, Perrin confronted Park, telling her she had been “caught red-handed” stealing signs. Park contended the sign was “illegal” because it did not disclose who paid for it, a violation of election rules, and that she was collecting them as evidence.

Buena Park police later pulled over Park and arrested and cited her on suspicion of stealing the “carpetbagger” signs. Police did not find the man who put the sign in Park’s car.

Park pleaded not guilty in March, prompting a trial that began Tuesday, Dec. 10.

Jurors had to decide whether taking the signs constituted misdemeanor petty theft, as alleged by the prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Jake Jondle.

Jondle argued that Park showed criminal intent to steal the signs because she had planned for the man in her car to remove signs from private and public property, and she was uncooperative with police.

But the jury ultimately leaned toward finding Park not guilty. Her attorney, Julie Swain, argued that Park had no intent to steal because she believed she had the property owner’s permission to take the sign.

Park was elected in November 2018, less than three weeks after the incident, to represent the city’s northern District 1. She beat incumbent councilwoman Virgina Vaughn by a narrow margin.

Residents of the district this year attempted to recall Park, in part because of the sign theft allegation. The campaign failed last month when the Registrar of Voters found that recall petitioners did not collect enough valid signatures to trigger a new election.

Park said she was pleased with the outcome Thursday.

“The truth came out. And justice has been served.” Park said in a statement. “I am thrilled that I can put this behind me and focus on serving the community effectively.”