PARMA, Ohio (WJW) – Three men charged in connection with the attempted theft of the Parma flamingo faced a judge Tuesday and entered pleas in the case.
Taylor Pupkiewicz, 25; Marcus Balue, 25; and David Burak, 24, were all charged with vandalism in the attempted theft of the 7-foot flamingo statue that was installed near the script Parma sign.
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Police said the flamingo was damaged in the removal attempt.
The three men were allegedly seen on surveillance camera early Sunday, May 26, trying to stuff the statue into the trunk of a car.
The bird didn’t fit, and it was dumped about 50 feet away.
Last week, Pupkiewicz talked to FOX 8 News outside the justice center.
“My daughter’s huge into flamingos — loves flamingos, loves animals,” he said.
“There’s one right down from our house. I seen the opportunity for it and figured we would give it a try. We were boozed up a little bit,” he told FOX 8 News.
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The statue was created by Metal Zoo in California, paid with a $2,000 donation from Parma resident Bob Funk, who made the donation in honor of his wife and daughter, both of whom died of breast cancer.
It was installed next to the park’s Parma script sign in January.
In court Tuesday, the judge announced that all three men were also served with theft charges.
They were accused of stealing alcohol at a Sheetz on Ridge Road hours before the flamingo incident.
In addition to those charges, the initial vandalism charges were amended to attempted vandalism.
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All three entered guilty pleas on the charges and read apology letters to the court.
The judge did not hold back during sentencing.
“This is not the crime of the century, we all know that,” Judge Deanna O’Donnell said.
“But what this is is a warped and misguided sense of entitlement. I want, I take, it’s mine. Like a 3-year-old would do,” she said.
She continued, “What this is is a complete lack of respect for the community you live in. It is a complete disregard for every person that works so, so hard to make this city a beautiful place to call home.”
She added, “While this is not the crime of the century, it is a gut punch, a gut punch to Mr. Robert Funk who so graciously donated thousands and thousands of dollars to get this statue here in this city, in honor of his deceased wife and his deceased daughter who both died of cancer. Cancer stole his wife and his daughter, and you thought it would be okay to steal more?”
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All three men were sentenced to serve 10 days in jail, a $500 fine, 36 months’ probation and 500 hours of community service, half of which will be served at the city of Parma. The other half will be served at either the University Hospitals Parma Cancer Center, The American Cancer Society or the American Breast Cancer Foundation.
“Gentlemen, now you’re going to make it right,” Judge O’Donnell said.
The three were also ordered to write personal apology letters to Funk. The apologies they read in court will be posted on the city’s website.
“Jail time starts today,” she said as the three left the courtroom.
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