SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – A candidate for Savannah City Council is setting the record straight about his recent arrest. Malik Jones was charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespass for removing his campaign signs from a city code compliance truck in March.

“As I looked in the back of her truck, I had three of my signs that were on top. I grabbed my sign and before I could even finish grabbing my signs, the code compliance officer rolled off. And at that point, she was committing theft. She was stealing my property,” Jones said.

On March 20, Malik Jones was out at the corner of East Gwinnett Street and Long Avenue putting up signs for his campaign for alderman of the 3rd district. However, the area where the signs were placed was not allowed, according to code enforcement.

Jones details the interaction.

“As I was canvassing the neighborhood I observed the code compliance officer picking up signs and I looked on my property and the sign that was on my property was removed,” Jones recalled. “As I was approaching the code compliance officer I was asking her why she was taking up the signs and she informed me that signs were not able to be on the right of way. I was uneducated at the time, but then she educated me. I thought I’d be given an opportunity to correct that.” 

According to the arrest report details, Malik was not able to secure all of his signs and drove after the code compliance officer – eventually pulling in front of the code compliance vehicle and stopping.

Jones then got in the back of the truck to receive his signs. Since Jones was in the back of a code compliance vehicle, he was cited for criminal trespassing along with disorderly conduct. 

This isn’t his first arrest, but Jones is confident that the charges he now faces will be dismissed.

“So they are trying to bring up my past, but if you look at the article shared today on Savannah Now, I’m a motivational speaker. So I’m transparent. I get paid to tell my story,” Jones said. “I would definitely say the incident was blown out of proportion. I have to go to court and have the charges dismissed.”

Jones was not taken into custody and says he’s confident the case will be dismissed.