Somerville Sign Shop Owner Doesn't Buy Red Sox Banner Story

SOMERVILLE, MA – A Red Sox banner held hostage by three Malden guys who said they found it on the side of the road in Somerville was returned to the team Wednesday as questions arose over their story. Louie Iacuzzi, 44, told the Boston Globe he and his two friends would gladly return the banner in exchange for "financial [compensation], maybe some tickets, we want something."

The original story: the banner celebrating the 2018 American League East title had apparently fallen off the vendor's truck on McGrath Highway, and Iacuzzi ran across the busy road to get it. But the vendor himself, Flagraphics owner Tony Lafuente, hit back against the trio's claims.

He told the Boston Globe he didn't know if the banner "fell off the truck, or if it walked off the truck...I’ve been doing work for the Boston Red Sox since 1992. Nothing ever happened like this."

Iacuzzi fervently stuck by his story in a Globe interview, calling himself a good Samaritan. The Red Sox said Wednesday afternoon the original banner had been returned, and the people who brought it back were not given anything in exchange.

Read more from the Boston Globe.

Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch