LONGMONT, Colo. (KDVR) Doorbell video captured a masked man on an electric unicycle stealing Pride flags in a Colorado neighborhood.
Sheryl Colaur, a resident of Longmont, Colorado, got a head start this year on her yearly tradition of hanging up her Pride flag.
“I put the flag upright before Memorial Day,” she said. “So, right before Pride month of June rolled around.”
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Sheryl Colaur discusses the repeated theft of her Pride flag. (KDVR)
Over the holiday weekend, she noticed her flag was gone.
“I initially thought it was the winds that weekend because they were pretty blustery. Then took another look at it and noticed it was pretty bent straight down,” said Colaur. “It’s like somebody had grabbed the flag and yanked it directly down.”
Colaur posted about the situation online. Neighbors rallied together, starting a GoFundMe to purchase more flags to show visibility throughout the neighborhood. Nearly two weeks later, she replaced the flag, and it was stolen again for the second time. And then a third time.
She recently installed dog fencing around the area to attempt to get a better look at the perpetrator.
“I had to block off the area that he was previously hidden behind the pillar where the flag is mounted, the doorbell camera wasn’t able to catch him in the two previous instances,” said Colaur.
This time around 9 p.m., a camera mounted outside her front door caught the masked man tearing down the flag, before riding away.
“Seems to be on an e-scooter or an electric unicycle,” Colaur said. “We’re not completely sure what kind of vehicle it was.”
She said the first thing that went through her mind was fear.
“Absolutely fear,” she said. “He had the audacity to come all the way up on my porch. This is my home, it’s a violation of my home and property. I have kids here.”
Now, neighbors are standing in solidarity and showing support.
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Pride flags have gone up throughout the Longmont neighborhood. (KDVR) -
Pride flags have gone up throughout the Longmont neighborhood. (KDVR)
“When he took the one flag, it continued to multiply in more flags. Not only in my display but around the neighborhood,” said Colaur.
She said she won’t be intimidated.
“I feel a little violated because he keeps on coming back to our house. He knows what this house is. He knows because we continue to put up the flags,” she said. “I won’t be intimidated. I will say that. We’re not going to hide who we are because someone continues to come back to our house and try and steal the representation of what it means. There’s a metal rod on the inside of this flag. So, if he tries to steal it again, it’s not going anywhere.”
Colaur said she knows the incident is targeted because other flags hanging around the neighborhood have not been touched: only the Pride flags. She says she knows several other neighbors who have also had their flags taken.
Longmont police told affiliate KDVR they are looking into the situation and have asked anyone with information to call 303-651-8501.
