The thief had previously managed to avoid her Ring doorbell camera. This time, however, he was caught on video arriving by electric unicycle, stepping onto Colaur’s front porch, tearing down the flag over her bannister, grabbing another, and running away. Colaur told the Times-Call her next-door neighbor also captured footage that same night showing a similarly described man stealing a flag from their porch.
Masked Unicyclist Steals Colorado Neighborhood’s Pride Flags
A masked unicyclist steals Pride flags in Colorado, but neighbors vow, "Every time he steals a flag, I'll put a new one up."
In one of the stranger crime sprees of Pride Month, a masked man on an electric unicycle is reportedly stealing Pride flags across Longmont, Colorado.
Since Memorial Day weekend — just ahead of Pride Month — the man has vandalized homes by bending flagpoles and tearing down flags.
Sheryl Colaur, one of the victims, told the Longmont Daily Times-Call that at least 10 — and possibly as many as 15 — of her neighbors in Longmont’s Harvest Junction Village neighborhood have had their Pride flags stolen, allegedly by the same man.
“We have some seasonality with the flags that we put up,” Colaur said of the neighborhood’s decorating habits. “So during September and beyond, it’s always Packers season. In June, it’s Pride.”
Colaur got an early start on decorating in late May. On Sunday, May 25, she noticed her flag was missing. At first, she blamed the loss on high winds that had swept through the area that weekend. But on closer inspection, she saw that her flagpole was bent and the clips for the grommets stretched out.
“[T]he pole was pulled straight down,” she said. “And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s not the wind.’ Someone had obviously taken the flag and torn it straight down.”
Colaur posted on Nextdoor to alert her neighbors, and received mixed reactions. “Why do you need to advertise that you’re gay?” wrote one poster. But most of the neighbors were supportive.
Colaur bought a new Pride flag and hung it up on the flagpole. Two weeks later, she was at home with her girlfriend when they suddenly heard several loud pops after midnight.
“We kind of looked at each other,” she said. “I was thinking, were those gunshots?”
Heading downstairs, Colaur discovered her flagpole was bent again and the flag stolen. Realizing it was a targeted attack, she alerted her neighbors on Nextdoor and bought even more Pride-themed decorations: additional flags, a rainbow doormat, several mini flags for her front-door wreath, and a jumbo-sized banner reading, “Love always wins.”
Mike MacFerrin, one of Colaur’s neighbors who lives a block over, was also targeted by a masked man who tore down the Pride flag hanging on his front porch. The porch light was on, and his children were home at the time.
“It was a targeted attack,” MacFerrin told CBS News. “Every other flag, team flag, and American flags had all been left. it was just the Pride flags [that were taken].”
On June 7, MacFerrin launched a GoFundMe, asking his neighbors to help replace the stolen Pride flags for himself, Colaur, and others who had their flags stolen. He raised enough money to buy about 70 new flags, which his neighbors have begun hanging in defiance of the masked vandal. So far, no one has complained about his efforts, he told CBS.
“It was received very well,” he said. “People did not like their neighbors being bullied. They wanted to stand up for them. They wanted to stand with them. It’s important to be strong as well, and the more of our neighbors that stand up strong to this, the stronger we are together.”
Unfortunately, identifying the man has proven difficult. Despite filing police reports, installing additional cameras, and putting up a fence around her flagpole, Colaur was unable to stop the vandal from stealing her Pride flag for a third time.
“It almost makes this laughable, that he’s riding a unicycle around to tear down Pride flags,” Colaur said. “I don’t know where he’s coming from, or why he has so much vitriol for the LGBTQ community, but her obviously has some bigoted views if he thinks that by stealing Pride flags, we might be a little less gay.”
Lindsey Bailey, another neighborhood resident who hung up a Pride flag, told CBS News she had an unpleasant encounter with a man on a scooter, whom she believes is responsible for the flag thefts.
Bailey says the man drove by her house while she was outside a little after dark, yelling expletives and saying how much he hated Pride Month. He made such a commotion that Bailey’s husband came outside with a bat. The man on the scooter turned around and rode past the house again, this time yelling at her husband.
Bailey said the man threatened her husband and promised to return. She said he told her, “He had taken my neighbor’s Pride flags, and he was coming back for mine, too.”
Police are asking anyone with information about the thefts or the suspect to contact police at 303-651-8501.
“We understand how upsetting the recent theft of flags has been for our community and continue to work with the neighborhood to gather evidence and statements related to these incidents,” Longmont Public Safety spokeswoman Robin Ericson told the Times-Call in an email.
Colaur is concerned that the vandal-turned-thief appears to be escalating in his actions, noting that she has young children at home. While she says the situation is “very unnerving,” she is heartened by the overall reaction of her neighbors, who have banded together and rallied around the neighborhood’s LGBTQ residents. In the meantime, she says she’s going to continue to hang up her Pride flag.
“Every time he steals a flag, I’m going to keep on putting a new flag up,” she said.
Colaur is concerned the thief may be escalating, and noted she has young children at home. While she calls the situation “very unnerving,” she’s heartened by her neighbors, who have rallied around the neighborhood’s LGBTQ residents. In the meantime, she says she’ll keep flying her Pride flag.
“Every time he steals a flag, I’m going to keep on putting a new flag up.”
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