Whenever you’re feeling lost, you may try and look for a sign. But how would you feel if you couldn’t find one? That’s what the Sheriff in Moody County has been dealing with the past few days.
As many roads across Moody County remain either flooded or damaged, It’s hard to be everywhere at once. To work around this, the local Sheriff’s Office put up signs and barricades telling people to find safer routes around the area.
But some people are taking another route the route of theft. Stealing the expensive city barricades and leaving routes open for trouble.
“They don’t have a budget to buy new signs. It’s not like they can just go to Walmart and grab a new sign. Those are certain dimensions made by the prison so that they meet all the DOT requirements,“ Moody County Sheriff Troy Wellman said.
For those who decide to steal road signs, it can result in a “hole“ bunch of consequences
“There could be a charge of vandalism if we find out who is damaging the signs. It could be a petty theft charge if we find out who’s taking the signs,“ Wellman said.
While those charges may be costly, they’re nothing compared to the cost of someone’s life.
“If we find out somebody moved them or damaged them to a point where somebody else went through them, and an accident happened, they became injured or, worse, killed, we could go back and possibly charge the people that took the signs,“ Wellman said.
Sheriff Wellman says that no accidents have happened so far. Instead of barricades, there’s something else people should take away…
“Society as a whole needs to remember common sense: if it’s not yours, don’t mess with it. Ask permission. Don’t take something that’s not yours. Don’t go around barricades; they’re there for a reason. And… just… yeah. Common sense just needs to become common again as a society,“ Wellman said.
One of the barricades has already been returned.
If your usual route is blocked off by a sign or barricade, find a different path, don’t steal it, and always keep your eyes on the road.
