Auburn City Councilwoman Virginia Haugen’s trial date for obstructing a police investigation is set to begin at 9 a.m. Feb. 20 at Auburn Municipal Court.

Haugen has pleaded innocent to the charge, which stems from an incident July 4, when persons still unknown trespassed onto Burlington Northern Railroad property and put up a sign that said, “Will the last business to leave downtown … Please turn off the lights?”

Police say Haugen denied numerous times during her first interview about the matter July 7 that she had ever seen the sign before, but admitted the next day that she had ordered it and picked it up from a local sign company on behalf of others.

Haugen has not named who those others were, she has told the Auburn Reporter, because she didn’t want to get them in trouble.

Obstructing a police investigation is a gross misdemeanor in state law and the city’s code, carrying a maximum penalty of one year in jail and/or a $5,000 fine.

The City of Tacoma’s Prosecutor’s Office is handling the case.