By Geena Molinaro, Special Writer
Princeton University professor John Mulvey was arrested Monday afternoon and charged with stealing 21 lawn signs from Ted Horodynsky, president of Princeton Computer Repair & Tutoring, over a one-year period.
A press release from the Princeton Police Department said the signs were worth a total of $470.82.
The thefts occurred on Rosedale Road near Elm Road, said the press release. Mr. Mulvey said he lives off of Rosedale Road on Puritan Court.
Mr. Horodynsky said the signs were taken not from his own property, but his clients’ properties.
He said a client with children told him she was concerned about a person continually coming on to her property to take the signs.
Officers were able to apprehend Mr. Mulvey through a victim’s "surveillance," said Sgt. Steven Riccitello. The victim obtained Mr. Mulvey’s license plate information and the police were able to track him down, said Sgt. Riccitello.
Mr. Horodynsky said he captured Mr. Mulvey on camera on five different occasions removing the signs from his client’s laws.
Mr. Horodynsky said when his signs initially started disappearing, he had asked his client if she did not want signs displayed on her lawn and was removing them. After she said she had not taken them out, Mr. Horodynsky said he came up with a plan to capture the perpetrator in action.
With the permission of one of his clients’ neighbors, Mr. Horodynsky installed a camera on their property, he said.
There were initially some technical difficulties, but he was able to get it working, he said. The camera took frame-by-frame shots and included a time and date stamp, Mr. Horodynsky said.
Last Saturday, Mr. Horodynsky said Mr. Mulvey’s car came down the street headed east, it normally headed west, and the camera captured his license plates.
Mr. Mulvey was found to be in possession of all of the missing signs, acording to the police press release, and the signs were returned to the victim.
Mr. Horodynsky said the police found all of the signs in Mr. Mulvey’s garage, behind a pool table.
The arresting officers were Detective Sgt. Chris Quaste and Detective Adam Basatemur.
Sgt. Riccitello said Princeton University police were not involved in the arrest but were notified of Mr. Mulvey’s charges.
"I’m relieved," said Mr. Horodynsky. "This has been going on for a year."
He said his car, which is marked with his business logo, and his signs are the primary way he get clients. Before Mr. Mulvey was charged with the crime, Mr. Horodynsky said he was not sure if the person stealing them was a competitor.
The police do not have a motive at this time, said Sgt. Riccitello.
Mr. Horodynsky said he was shocked to find out who the thief was and had, to his recollection, never met him before.
But, the thefts were not a total shock, because Mr. Horodynsky said he had received a "creepy" call from someone last August. Using a blocked number, the caller told Mr. Horodynsky a marked company car had cut him off when it made a left turn at the intersection of Route 206 and Elm Road, said Mr. Horodynsky.
The caller had said he would take down Princeton Computer Repair & Tutoring business signs whenever he saw them and would continue to do so until Mr. Horodynsky called him back, he said.
The caller also told Mr. Horodynsky to stay off of Elm Road, he said.
Mr. Horodynsky said he never called the person back because he did not have the phone number.
"I was a little scared because he told me never to go back on to Elm," said Mr. Horodynsky. "I thought to myself, ‘this guy is serious.’¦"
Mr. Horodynsky saved the voicemail and played it for the police, but it was eventually deleted after he upgraded his phone, he said.
Mr. Horodynsky said he did not specifically remember cutting someone off, but he had been working in a home on Elm Road at the time of the call and said it was possible it happened.
When his signs started disappearing, Mr. Horodynsky said he started to build a case against the person by reporting the thefts to the police.
Mr. Mulvey said he did not know Mr. Horodynsky and he believes the "charges are in error." He is planning to plead not guilty, he said.
"I think there’s some confusion about what was going on," he said.
The lawn signs were thrown into bushes and in the road, Mr. Mulvey said, and he believed he was doing his "civic duty" by removing them.
He said "a great majority" of the signs he picked up were not on lawns.
Mr. Mulvey was released on his own recognizance and is scheduled to appear in court, said Sgt. Riccitello.
Mr. Mulvey teaches operations research and financial engineering at the university and has worked there for 36 years, he said.
