Ryan Leef, Yukon Conservative candidate, handcuffs, puts vandal under citizen arrest - Action News
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Ryan Leef, Yukon Conservative candidate, handcuffs, puts vandal under citizen arrest

Carrie Boles says one of the men twisted her arm behind her back and told her she was under a citizen's arrest. She says she was handcuffed and the men called the RCMP.

'What are you doing sir, out here at 11 o'clock at night in the pouring rain, protecting your campaign signs?'

Carrie Boles was caught destroying Ryan Leef's election signs red-handed, by the politician himself. These undamaged signs are on the Alaska Highway. (Claudiane Samson/CBC)

A Whitehorse woman says she was apprehended by Yukon's Conservativecandidate late at night by a roadsidewhere she was defacing his campaign signs.

Carrie Boles says she had destroyed about half a dozen Ryan Leef election signswhen the politician, dressed in camouflage,came out of the trees with another man dressed in black. Boles believes the second man was Darren Parsons, Leef's campaign manager. Shedidn't recognize the men right away.

"I didn't realize at first, what was going on."

Ryan Leef, Conservative MP candidate, has apparently confirmed the statements made by Carrie Boles in a letter she wrote to the Yukon News, but has not been reached for comment. (Philippe Morin/CBC)
Boles says one of the men twisted her arm behind her back and told her she was under a citizen's arrest. She saysshe was handcuffed and the men called the RCMP.

"I recognized Mr.Leef's voice and Iwas like, 'what are you doing sir, out here at 11 o'clock at night in the pouring rain, protecting your campaign signs?'"

Bolesadmitsit was the second time she haddefacedLeef'scampaign signs.The police let Boles go with a warning, but she wonders why Leef was sitting in the dark with handcuffs and a motion sensor.

She says the experience was terrifying and she regrets her actions. She says she didn't realize that destroying election signs was a crime. As for why she did it, Boles says she was "having one of those days. There was really not a lot of thought put into it."

"I saw all these signs on the road and I thought you know what, 'they're gaudy, they look awful and I've just had enough.'" Boles said.

Leef's office has not returned calls, howeverJohn Thompson, the editor of the Yukon News, saysLeef's office has confirmed the facts Boles wrote in a letter to thepaper, which was published on Wednesday. In the letter, Boles describes the events from her perspective.

"For those wondering, we did contact Ryan Leef's office and confirmed events described [Boles' letter] are true," Thompson tweeted.