The curious case of the poop-throwing mayor

It was Mayor Kneier, in the driveway, with a bag of poop.

San Marino, California, resident Philip Lao says that the town's mayor, Dennis Kneier, threw a bag of dog feces at his home in retaliation for his stance against opening a dog park nearby. Lao's yard is filled with signs that declare it a "no poop zone."

Lao has surveillance cameras on his property, NBC Los Angeles reports, and says that they clearly show Kneier and his wife walking by his home on Saturday, and Kneier throwing the bag onto the walkway. Lao suggests that the gesture was the mayor's way of getting back at him for his opposition to the dog park, but that Kneier also dislikes the "no poop zone" signs; Lao has told the City Council he will not remove them until other residents take down their USC and UCLA signs. Neither Lao nor the mayor owns a dog.

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The San Marino Police got involved, and after hours of crack detective work, came to the conclusion that yes, the bag had been placed there on purpose. Kneier told NBC4 on Tuesday that he wasn't 100 percent sure where he picked up the bag before placing it in the walkway, but if he could go back in time, he would have left it where it was or thrown it away in the trash. "I take responsibility for what happened," he said. "I'm sorry it happened.... This was a mistake." --Catherine Garcia