By RUSS OLIVO

CUMBERLAND — Triggering a final volley of unflattering charges and countercharges destined to make headlines on primary day, mayoral challenger David S. Iwuc filed a police complaint Sunday accusing a relative of incumbent Mayor Daniel McKee with removing Iwuc’s campaign literature from mailboxes.

McKee responded later by saying he ordered a halt to the removal of the literature as soon as he found out it was taking place.
But McKee also said Iwuc shouldn’t have been draping campaign literature over mailbox flags in the first place because it’s a violation of the postal code. He said the post office notified several candidates, including Iwuc, to stop doing it and remove the literature after Iwuc’s charges surfaced.
“He violated regulations and he got caught at it because he tried to make a big deal out of nothing and I had already called a stop to it when I found out about it,” said McKee. “I put a stop to it quickly. I put a stop to it because I didn’t want to be involved in that nonsense.”
While McKee declined to identify the worker who was allegedly removing Iwuc’s literature, he said the person had no right to do it, even though the manner in which Iwuc distributed it was wrong. McKee, however, said the material contained inflammatory and inaccurate charges calling into question his integrity.
Deputy Police Chief Mike Kinch said the police had taken a formal complaint from Iwuc and they were in the process of investigating it. But Kinch said that even if Iwuc’s allegations are true, the police are, as yet, unsure whether a crime was committed.
At first blush, it may seem as if removing campaign literature in the manner Iwuc described could be construed as a type of petty larceny, said Kinch. But the broader question is whether a package of campaign materials left on a mailbox actually belongs to anyone or is simply abandoned property.
Kinch said the manager of the Diamond Hill Road post office had already advised him that it is a violation of the postal code to attach campaign literature to a roadside mailbox — technically not a crime, but a civil offense.
Kinch said the post office reserves the right to fine violators up to 43 cents for each piece of literature, but he was under the impression the authorities merely intend to issue warnings as long as candidates remove the offending packages.
The post office did not return a telephone call.
”If anything comes up we’ll handle it, but right now we’re treating it as a postal matter,” the deputy chief said.
Iwuc was apparently unaware of the postal regulation when he told The Call about the removal of his campaign materials on Monday. A retired policeman, Iwuc said his campaign workers have been careful to avoid stuffing materials inside mailboxes, because that is illegal. Instead, he said, they had been draping the materials, contained in a plastic bag with a slot for a doorknob, over mailbox flags.
About noon Sunday, Iwuc said, one of his campaign volunteers was attaching literature to mailboxes in the Hadde Avenue area. As the worker, whom Iwuc identified as Kieran O’Reilly, finished up his route, he saw a woman in a blue car with Massachusetts plates removing the materials he had just placed on the mailboxes.
 Iwuc, who said O’Reilly called him immediately about the incident, instructed the worker to follow the woman. At some point, Iwuc said, O’Reilly approached the woman, whom he recognized as one of McKee’s sisters. Iwuc said he did not know the woman’s name. When O’Reilly confronted her, she told him to “get out of the way” and drove off, said Iwuc.
Iwuc, who is facing McKee for the third time, said the episode is emblematic of the tactics McKee’s campaign has employed in this round of battle.
“I’m disappointed, really,” said Iwuc. “It’s tough to run when you’re getting beat up in the paper. They painted “scum” on my campaign signs. Now you get this…It leaves a bad taste in people’s mouths because people don’t want to deal with this crap.”
Iwuc won a term as mayor in 2004 after upsetting McKee in a primary and then fending off a write-in challenge from McKee in the general election. McKee, who is seeking his fourth term, served from 2001 to 2005 and was elected again in 2006. Both Democrats, McKee and Iwuc square off today in another primary, but the results will settle the contest unless a write-in Republican candidate surfaces in the November election and wins.