Prosecutors will announce Wednesday whether they plan to charge veteran radio traffic reporter Joe McConnell (pictured) with stealing a political campaign sign in his hometown of Burlingame, the San Mateo County Times reported today.

“We’re deferring a decision until after the election date, because we don’t want any side in the election to somehow use our decision for political purposes,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told the Times.

McConnell, the SF head of Metro Networks which provides traffic reports to many Bay Area stations, is accused of removing a sign of a candidate who is opposing another candidate whose campaign is being managed by McConnell’s wife, Geraldine.

The day after the incident, McConnell told the Times he removed the sign because it was blocking a sign that his wife’s campaign had put up earlier. “I just feel (candidate Gene Condon’s signs) are a blight on the neighborhood, just as he would be a blight on City Council,” McConnell told the Times the day after the alleged incident. “This one particular sign has been driving me crazy.”