Felony Charge in Theft of Bologna Is Reduced

Angered by the filing of felony charges against a man accused of stealing a $1.49 package of bologna, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner has ordered a reduction of the charge to a misdemeanor and set an office policy of not filing felony charges against anyone accused of stealing small amounts of food.

Reiner instructed Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven D. Ogden late Wednesday afternoon that “thefts of small amounts of food will not be prosecuted in general as felonies,” even if there are prior petty theft convictions, district attorney’s spokesman Al Albergate said Thursday. He described Reiner’s action as “a new policy.”

Leonard James Hazlett, 38, a transient, who said he stole the lunch meat from a Sylmar grocery because he had not eaten in two days, will be charged with a misdemeanor if he pleads guilty under terms of an agreement worked out Thursday.

In a letter to the editor of The Times dated July 8, Reiner wrote that the decision to prosecute Hazlett as a felon was “a mistake in judgment. . . . A theft involving $1.49 that does not involve an act of violence clearly and simply does not require or deserve a state prison sentence.”

The letter explained that deputy district attorneys have the option under California law of treating petty theft cases “as felonious conduct” or misdemeanors.

Hazlett was being prosecuted as a felon because he had at least three previous convictions for petty theft, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jacquelyn P. Lacey said. He would have faced up to three years in state prison if convicted.

If Hazlett accepts the plea bargain, he could be sentenced by San Fernando Superior Court Judge Joyce Kennard to up to one year in the county jail, said Deputy Public Defender Gerald T. Richardson, who added that he believes Hazlett will accept the offer at his arraignment today.

“I think this policy is a wonderful idea,” Richardson said. “I never felt there should be any other disposition in this case.”

Ogden, who had called Hazlett “a career criminal” in an interview Tuesday, said he was following orders when he made the offer to reduce the charge. He said he plans to pin above his desk a clipping of a newspaper headline that reads “just following orders,” which accompanied a story on fired White House aide Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North.

“I would agree that we shouldn’t prosecute people who are hungry for small amounts of food, except I think Mr. Hazlett spends his money on drugs and is not entitled to say he has to steal to eat,” Ogden said.

In a jail interview Tuesday, Hazlett said stealing became a way of life soon after he graduated from high school and became addicted to heroin, alcohol and cocaine.

Hazlett has served time in County Jail for petty thefts of items ranging from cigarettes to pants.