Acton Officials Accused of Vigilante Acts : Vandalism: Two charged with stealing and damaging real estate and developer signs that they considered illegal and a visual blight.
Unlike Zorro or the Lone Ranger, the vigilantes of Acton do not wear masks.
And prosecutors say there is little doubt that Charles Brink and Joel Levy, members of the Town Council in this unincorporated mountain community southwest of Palmdale, were behind a campaign in which hundreds of real estate and developer signs were torn down between May and September.
On Tuesday prosecutors filed charges of felony conspiracy to commit theft and vandalism, felony grand theft, misdemeanor vandalism and misdemeanor petty theft against Councilmen Brink and Levy for the alleged sign caper.
In a telephone interview Tuesday, Brink said: “People have a right to enforce the law. If a vigilante enforces the law, they have a right to do it. . . . We have the support of the people in Acton and of the county code.â€
But the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office disagrees.
The complaint filed in Lancaster Superior Court alleges that Brink and Levy stole or vandalized seven signs worth $3,500, some of which were legally posted “open house†signs on private property.
Brink said he tore down the signs because he thought they were illegally posted and a blight on the rural community of 10,000 residents. Levy could not be reached for comment.
During meetings of the nine-member elected council on which he and Levy serve, Brink allegedly boasted about tearing down more than 300 signs, according to court records and prosecutors. The panel is an advisory group to the county but is not a government agency.
Prosecutors estimate that total losses to developers, real estate agents and private homeowners exceed $30,000.
“Our goal is to have these two gentlemen accept responsibility for their behavior,†said Deputy Dist. Atty Pamela Rhodes. “Our concern is that public leaders are taking a position that they are above the law. And they are not.â€
Prosecutors said it was unusual to have to press such charges against members of an elected body.
Even in the cases where county sign ordinances were violated, Rhodes said, Brink and Levy should have contacted county officials rather than trespassing on private property and stealing or destroying signs.
Brink, who said he and Levy were planning to surrender today to authorities in Lancaster, claimed he tore down only illegal signs that he believed were on public property. He said most developers have cooperated with his efforts.
“Of the 300 signs I’ve removed, only one that I can think of was on private property, in which case that was trespassing and a mistake,†he said.
Brink asserted that the prosecution was politically motivated and that Mark Lebens, a manager with Woodgate Real Estate Corp. in Palmdale, was behind the effort to have criminal charges filed.
Lebens, who was among those who complained to the Sheriff’s Department about the vandalism, said of Brink: “I think his position with the Town Council has gone to his head.â€
Although Lebens acknowledged that one billboard-type sign near the Antelope Valley Freeway that was defaced had been posted illegally, he said the other signs were legal.
Lebens said a witness to one act of vandalism in August was terrified when he looked out his window and saw the two councilmen bashing away at a Woodgate sign with hammers.
“I have a problem with a private individual taking the law into his own hands,†Lebens said.
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