Robbery Gives Candidate New Perspective on Crime

Congressional candidate Hale McGee told a local cable station Monday that crime was not a problem in the 42nd District.

But McGee, an independent challenging Republican congressman David Dreier, had a change of heart later that evening when he and his campaign manager were robbed at gunpoint in Ontario while putting up a campaign sign.

“The trauma of being a crime victim ,” he said, has given him new empathy for other crime victims.

Campaign manager Richard Bunck said the men had just finished putting up a sign near the pay phones of a gas station on Haven Avenue when two men demanded money and his wallet. One of the men flashed a .45-caliber handgun.

Bunck said he handed them $80, but told them he didn’t have a wallet and offered them a cellular phone. The robbers became agitated and left before they could get anything from McGee, he said.