A man has been accused of stealing banners hung in downtown Columbia celebrating the USC women’s basketball team’s national championship, police said.
Jamie Evans Jennings, 46, was charged after Columbia police recognized him on downtown surveillance cameras that captured the thefts. said. The banners have not been recovered, a police spokesperson added. He was arrested in the 1700 block of Main Street.
Earlier this week, Matt Kennell, president of the Columbia Main Street District, implored residents to stop stealing the banners, which hang from light poles on Main Street. The banners cost about $50 each to print. By Tuesday, seven of the 45 banners put up throughout the district had been stolen.
“Your man or woman cave doesn’t need these banners. They are for the players and the fans,” Kennell wrote on Twitter, asking residents to leave the banners where they were.
Jennings was charged with simple theft and booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, police said.
People keep stealing Gamecock women’s basketball banners from downtown Columbia
