UPDATE: Candidate whose petitions were stolen is back in business

Ronald Bailey, the Albany Common Council candidate whose ballot petitions were stolen Friday night, has since collected 170 signatures, which should enable the Board of Elections to place him on the November ballot, Bailey said on Monday.

Common council candidates require 109 signatures to qualify for placement, Bailey said. The Albany County Board of Elections did not immediately return a CBS 6 phone call.

Albany Police continue to investigate the theft, while Bailey is attempting to initiate a probe by Albany County District Attorney David Soares.

A spokesman for incumbent Corey Ellis, who is vacating the third ward seat to run for mayor, told CBS 6 that Ellis believes "there should be a full investigation."  Asked whether that investigation should be conducted by the district attorney's office, spokesman Chris Gorman said, "If [the theft] shown to be politically-motivated, then it's up to David Soares."

Bailey has openly questioned how opponent Lisa Feaster learned of the theft so quickly. In addition, several voters accused her of soliciting signatures by alleging that Bailey had dropped-out of the race - a claim she denied.

----------ORIGINAL STORY PUBLISHED SATURDAY----------

Someone broke into an Albany Common Council candidate's car overnight and stole the petitions containing the more than 300 signatures he had received toward placement on the November ballot.

Democrat Ronald Bailey, who serves as the Ward Leader in Albany's Arbor Hill and West Hill neighborhoods, is running to fill the seat soon to be vacated by Corey Ellis.

"As of right now, there's no means of recovery so we have to go back out [and] get signatures," Bailey told CBS 6 as a city police detective examined his shattered right rear window. "The only thing I'm concerned about is who gets the signatures first."

One of his primary opponents beat him to the punch. Within hours, Lisa Feaster was going door-to-door soliciting signatures.

"A lady came up [and] said Mister Bailey was stepping out of the running, and that she was taking over," voter George Halstead said. "She had me sign her petition."

When CBS 6 reached a reluctant Feaster a few blocks away, she denied having told anyone that Bailey is out of the running.

"This petition that we're carrying is effective today," she said. "What I'm understanding [is that] he's lost his petitions."

Pressed as to how she learned of the stolen petitions, Feaster said, "Well someone told me. Just like someone told you. I'm sure he called you, right?" When this reporter told her that Bailey was unlikely to notify his opponent, she disregarded the question and turned away from the camera.

According to Bailey, there are two other candidates for the seat but CBS 6 could not locate a working telephone number for either.

Besides his own petitions, Bailey said the unidentified thief made-off with petitions containing signatures on behalf of Mayor Jerry Jennings, City Treasurer Betty Barnette, and Leonard Ricchiuti -- a candidate for Albany Common Council President. When informed of the stolen petitions, Jennings said, "You've got to be kidding me."

Corey Ellis, the incumbent in Bailey's ward and one of Jennings' opponents in the mayoral race, did not return a CBS 6 phone call.

The Albany Police Department was reviewing the CBS 6 report and weighing an offer to view the raw video at the station, an officer said. The department had requested the tape.