A concerned California dad has been arrested after installing unauthorized stop signs out of concern about an intersection in his neighborhood.
Joseph Brandlin, a 44-year-old single father to 12-year-old Joey, said he tried for months to get the city to make the two-way stop, at the intersection of Loma Vista Street and Acacia Avenue in El Segundo, into a four-way stop.
After feeling like he was being ignored by the city, Brandlin took matters into his own hands. He installed 30-inch-high stop signs and painted the word “STOP” on the ground.
He took action weeks after his son narrowly avoided a collision while riding his bike through the intersection, which Brandlin told The Los Angeles Times was “the last straw.”
Brandlin spent about $1,000 of his own money on the commercial-grade materials, and was installing them early on March 14 when he was caught by police and arrested on multiple felony charges.
“Grand theft for taking cones from a nearby construction site and vandalism of city property,” Brandlin told CBS LA. “I’ll do it again if that’s what it takes. Because I’m not gonna wait for somebody to die.”
Brandlin says he’s one of many residents who have been asking the city for years to turn the neighborhood intersection into a four-way stop. The longtime El Segundo resident says the intersection is close to a park that is a popular spot for young children and families.
He and other neighbors had previously submitted a petition to the city with about 50 signatures requesting more stop signs. But the city said the intersection did not meet the required traffic volume for more stop signs, Brandlin told the Times.
Despite the city’s claims, Brandlin said residents were never notified of a traffic evaluation, and saw no visible evidence that it had taken place.
Instead of adding stop signs, the city opted to paint crosswalks on each side of the intersection.
The father called it ‘mind boggling’ that LA won’t add the stop signs since ‘75 percent’ of the city already has them.
After his arrest last month, Brandlin took over 70 letters from his neighbors to the El Segundo City Council. “I’m asking the council for a straightforward action to install stop signs on intersection of Loma Vista Street and Acacia Avenue, or complete and transparent evaluation with the community,” Brandlin said at the meeting on March 17.
Brandlin is due to appear in court in June. Local officials have since taken down his stop signs and covered up the “STOP” he painted on the ground.
