Hayashi-Wieckowski battle kicks up with surveillance video

The mud fest between "Mug Shot" Mary Hayashi and Bob "the Bully" Wieckowski for an East Bay state Senate seat ratcheted up a notch with the release of the in-store surveillance tape of Hayashi's 2011 shoplifting incident at San Francisco's Neiman Marcus.

The video - which runs over an hour and was taken by cameras throughout the store - shows Hayashi picking out nearly $2,500 worth of clothing, going into a dressing room with shopping bags, then paying for some of the clothing and being confronted by two security guards after walking out the door and down the street.

The tape was obtained from San Francisco police under a Freedom of Information Act request by Margarita Lacabe, who runs a blog called San Leandro Talk. Lacabe posted the video, selected highlights and choice-moment stills on the site.

"At the time of her arrest, (Hayashi) was the assemblywoman for our district," Lacabe said Tuesday. "I just wanted to see what was going on."

Lacabe is active in Democratic politics and is supporting Assemblyman Wieckowski in the race for the state Senate District 10 seat, which includes San Leandro, Fremont, Union City and Hayward.

Neiman Marcus store in San Francisco captured Mary Hayashi on in-store video surveillance cameras shortly before her arrest in October 2011 for shopping nearly $2,500 worth of clothing. Hayashi later pled no contest. Photo courtesy San Francisco Police Department. less Neiman Marcus store in San Francisco captured Mary Hayashi on in-store video surveillance cameras shortly before her arrest in October 2011 for shopping nearly $2,500 worth of clothing. Hayashi later pled no ... more Photo: Photo Courtesy SFPD Photo: Photo Courtesy SFPD Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Hayashi-Wieckowski battle kicks up with surveillance video 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

Lacabe said police released the video to her last week. The full-color footage was edited down by the Wieckowski campaign to less than two minutes and put up on YouTube - complete with storyboard narration.

"It clearly disputes Hayashi's claim that she was hurried and distracted at the time," said Wieckowski campaign spokeswoman Lisa Tucker. "It also shows that she was immediately put under surveillance and that they were on the lookout for her."

We reported after the Castro Valley Democrat's arrest that a week before the shoplifting incident, a Neiman saleswoman noticed that a dress was missing after a woman matching Hayashi's description tried it on. When Hayashi walked into the Union Square store Oct. 25, 2011, the clerk alerted store security, and they began tracking her with surveillance cameras.

Hayashi's people shot back at Wieckowski's YouTube posting, saying he was tacitly endorsing Big Brother surveillance tactics.

"As someone who seems to be big on consumer rights, Bob Wieckowski should be investigating the concerns about privacy that arise out of the video," said Hayashi's campaign manager, Josh Pulliam. "Instead, he is clearly getting his jollies with this video peeping on Mary Hayashi."

Hayashi pleaded no contest to misdemeanor grand theft in January 2012 and was sentenced to three years' probation. She will be on probation through the November general election.

Hayashi has long maintained that she was distracted and inadvertently walked out of the store with a white blouse, black skirt and leather pants in a shopping bag without paying for them.

The video release comes just after Hayashi sent out a mailer to 10th District voters accusing Wieckowski of spending more than $500,000 on attack ads exploiting the incident.

"Bob the Bully knows that the only way he can win this election is by mudslinging and attacking Mary," the mailer says.

Wieckowski, who earlier put up a Mug Shot Mary website, makes no apologies for spotlighting the shoplifting conviction.

"She put out all these feel-good ads about herself, but when people here see that she is still on probation, it's like her support steps into an empty elevator shaft," Wieckowski said.

The ugliness is cutting both ways: Hayashi supporters outside the campaign have hit back with a website and TV ad saying Wieckowski "protected rapists" by voting against a measure in an Assembly committee preventing people convicted of sexually assaulting a spouse from receiving alimony after a divorce.

As usual, there is a tactical side to all the mudslinging.

The June 3 primary is shaping up as a three-way race between the labor-backed Wieckowski, the business-backed Hayashi and Republican Peter Kuo.

Given that 26 percent of the district is registered Republican, there's a good chance that Kuo will advance to the November runoff. That would mean either Wieckowski or Hayashi will be out in the cold.

So for both sides, it's all-or-nothing time.