Tennessee legislator caught taking opponent's yard signs

This undated image taken from a cell phone video shows Tennessee State Rep. Curry Todd removing lawn signs supporting his opponent, Mark Lovell (Mark Lovell campaign)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A state lawmaker in Tennessee was arrested for theft Tuesday after someone got him on camera removing a rival's campaign signs last month.

Rep. Curry Todd, a Republican first elected to Tennessee's legislature in 1998, was taken into custody at his home in Collierville, Shelby County Sheriff's Office spokesman Earle Farrell said.

Farrell says video shows Todd removing signs belonging to opponent Mark Lovell, one of three challengers in the Aug. 4 Republican primary. Todd said the property owner told him he could do it.

"Yes, I did pick up the signs the other day, and I took 'em," Todd told The Commercial Appeal. "I wasn't trying to hide anything. It was daylight."

Later, Todd said: "I got permission to put my signs up. ... And they told me if (Lovell) puts them up, you can take them down or have someone else take them down."

Todd was arrested when he repeatedly failed to show up for questioning, Farrell said.

This undated photo shows Tennessee state Rep. Curry Todd. (Shelby County Sheriff's Office)

"Curry Todd forced us to come get him today," Farrell said during a news conference.

Todd, 68, pleaded guilty in January 2013 to drunken driving and gun charges and was sentenced to 48 hours in jail and the loss of his firearm for a year. He had been arrested in October 2011 in Nashville after failing a roadside sobriety test while keeping a loaded weapon next to his driver's seat.

Booking and lawyer information for Todd was not immediately available. A call to his legislative office in Nashville was not immediately returned.