Police Investigating Theft Of Pride Flags At Doylestown Business

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The Central Bucks Regional Police Department is looking for the public’s help in catching the person or persons responsible for ripping down pride flags at Evolution Candy on East State Street.

The police department this week released a video of the crime in progress in hopes of generating information that could lead to an arrest in the case.

The video captures laughter and incoherent discussion before showing an individual walking up to the flag and ripping it down in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 3.

Anyone with information on the identity of the suspect is asked to call Officer Tropiano at
215-345-4143 or submit a tip anonymously by clicking here.

When its first flag was stolen in April, owners Tracy and James Lamb simply replaced the banner with a new one.

But when it happened two more times this past weekend, they decided to reach out to police with surveillance footage of the crime. They had previously installed a camera to document the painting of the borough's first pride flag crosswalk in April.

The Lambs put up their first pride flag in June 2019 for Pride Month. In 2020 they decided it was easier just to keep the flag up year-round. And there were no incidents until earlier this year when they received a letter from a disgruntled customer saying they weren’t going to shop there anymore because of the flag.

A few months later the flag was stolen for the first time. It was around the same time the borough painted the nearby crosswalk at Printer's Alley with a Pride Progress flag.

“Sometime during Easter - the one time we are closed - somebody bothered to climb up there and unscrew the eye hooks and remove the flag. It was not torn down. It was unscrewed and taken off the building,” said Tracy.

It took her a few days to replace the eye hooks, but soon a new flag was flying. And it stayed that way for a month.

“This past weekend, around 3 a.m. on Saturday, the flag was ripped down. I thought, well that’s annoying. So I got a new flag and that one was ripped down. It all happened over 24 hours,” she said.

“The only reason we reached out to the police was because we had footage of it. As it turns out the person in the video was seen in other mischievous situations that weekend,” she said.

“This is like a small hiccup in our day,” she said. “And it is minor compared to the daily bullying and persecution that LGBTQ+ people go through. It’s not something I have to get repaired. It’s just replacing a flag. So thankfully it is minor in this world."

After the story of their stolen flags was broadcast throughout the region by Philadelphia media outlets, Tracy said they’ve seen an increase in negative reviews on Google, but for the most part, the response has been supportive.

“A woman waited at the door until I opened this morning and handed me an envelope full of money to pay for another flag, which I will now donate to the Rainbow Room where I know it will do some good,” said Tracy.

“We are committed to the flag and we are committed to this community. Everyone is welcome here,” she said.