Caught On Camera: American Flag Stolen From Outside Restaurant In Rockland County
PEARL RIVER, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – Police are searching for a man they say was caught on camera stealing a large American flag in Rockland County.
The oversized flag was proudly on display outside The Brew House on East Central Avenue in Pearl River for months, until someone took it late one night last week, CBS2's Alice Gainer reported.
Now police hope the public can help identify the man seen on surveillance video.
He walks up, starts pulling, looks right at the camera, pulls from the other side and with a final tug, he gets it down, Gainer reported. The flag touches the ground as he rolls it up and walks away.
"Just the fact that somebody would steal it I think is a rather sad, a sad commentary on our society today," resident Jim Whelan said.
"Why would somebody want to do that? It's a nice town, everybody gets along," another resident said. "I couldn't believe it."
"There's a camera right there," a man added.
There's no shortage of American flags along the road there, but this isn't the first time a theft like this has occurred at The Brew House.
"Recently we had a different flag ripped down, so we decided to put up a bigger one," bartender Casey O'Keefe told Gainer. "We have a couple servicemen that work here, as well. So we obviously defend our troops and everything else. For the most part we have a really great community here, so it's kind of surprising."
They're just hoping whoever stole the flag returns it soon.
"The cost doesn't really matter. It's just what it stands for," O'Keefe said. "Something like that is priceless -- at least in our eyes."
Police ask anyone with information to give them a call.