Property Crimes

Published on: March 29, 2016

Clumsy Criminal Alert: DUI Driver Leaves Trail for Police to Follow

Sometimes drivers almost appear to be asking for police to pick them up on charges of DUI in Los Angeles. They hit signs, drive the wrong way on a one-way street or make some other ridiculous move that calls officers’ attention to their driving.

Police in Riverside, Illinois, didn’t have to search too hard to find 28-year-old Joseph T. Whetter, who allegedly had been driving under the influence. All they had to do was follow the wide path of destruction that Whetter reportedly left as he careened through a local neighborhood.

The Woodridge, Illinois, Patch said that police received multiple 911 phone calls around 2 in the morning of March 19th from area residents who had heard (or seen) the damage that Whetter was wreaking. He supposedly drove on sidewalks and through several front yards, then hit a landscaping wall that sent him back onto the road. But he didn’t stay on the pavement for long; he ended up hitting bushes and narrowly missing a For Sale sign at a nearby house before the officers caught up with him. Both front tires of his vehicle had been blown out.

Published on: May 18, 2015

DUI Defendant Drives to Liquor Store during Court Recess

by Michael Kraut

Most people accused of a DUI in Los Angeles would make a point of making a good impression when their cases comes up for trial. That would include, of course, coming to court sober. Ignore that basic rule, and you could find yourself in even more trouble.

Just ask Patricia Rotter. According to ABC 7 in Denver, Rotter came to court for her DUI trial noticeably under the influence—and then ducked out during recess to drive to the liquor store. But her unsteady trip to buy booze did not go unnoticed. A sharp-eyed, off-duty deputy observed Rotter’s condition in court and then spotted her again when she was behind the wheel of her blue Toyota sedan. She was swerving all over the road.

The deputy called in the local cops, who followed Rotter and watched her narrowly avoid hitting a curb. She was also going 56 mph in a 36 mph traffic zone. The officers flashed their lights and eventually got Rotter to pull over. Although she refused to take a blood alcohol or breathalyzer test, she did take a field sobriety test. Not too surprisingly, she didn’t pass.

It’s doubtful that Rotter made it back to the courtroom in time for her trial, since she was down at the police station. The police booked her this time for DUI, speeding, unsafe lane change and failure to yield. Rotter had previous DUI arrests in both 2013 and 2014. Maybe when she goes on trial for these newest charges, she’ll remember to show up sober.

What should you do if you or someone you love faces a serious DUI count? Will you go to jail? Will you lose your license? Call Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer Michael Kraut immediately to understand your options and craft a strategic response.

Published on: March 20, 2015

Could Dedicated Officers Be Hired to Look for Motorists DUI in Los Angeles?

by Michael Kraut

Brookhaven, Mississippi, may not be a trendsetter in many areas, but when it comes to enforcing laws against DUI drivers, the town is taking an unusual step—hiring a police officer whose main responsibility will be traffic and DUI enforcement. If other jurisdictions throughout the country copy that action, more Californians could end up requiring the services of a Los Angeles DUI attorney.

An article on DailyLeader.com, which serves southwest Mississippi, reports that the Brookhaven Police Department is hoping for state aid—specifically a grant from the Mississippi Office of Public Safety—to fund the new position. The BPD Commander, David Johnson, said the department was concerned because of the increasing number of DUI fatalities in the area. The BPD made 28 arrests for DUI in all of 2014, and so far in 2015 it has flagged five motorists for DUI.

There have also been 172 traffic accidents this year.

Other police departments are using special training to boost the number of DUI arrests in their jurisdictions. In Windmere, Florida, a wealthy suburb of Orlando, the police department increased the number of people charged with DUI by almost 500 percent in 2014. They collared 59 DUI drivers that year, compared to only 10 in 2013.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Windmere Police Chief David Ogden instituted new training for police officers on DUI protocols. The officers have learned how to follow procedures that help establish probable cause for such arrests. The department has also hosted the National Highway Safety Administration’s three-day course on DUI enforcement.

Officers aren’t the only ones getting specialized training. In Riverside County, California, a specially-trained DUI Vertical Prosecution Team handles such cases from arrest through prosecution. This program, funded by grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety, underscores the importance of having specially trained and experienced attorneys representing defendants in DUI cases.

Locating a seasoned and qualified Los Angeles DUI defense lawyer is a critical part of the process of reclaiming your life, your time and your peace of mind. Call ex-prosecutor Michael Kraut for a free consultation right now.

Published on: January 7, 2015

Los Angeles DUI Arrests Skyrocket Over New Year’s Holiday, According to California Highway Patrol Reports

by Michael Kraut

Los Angeles DUI arrests spiked over the New Year’s holiday, as this blog (and other sources) predicted. But we had no idea that the damage would be as bad as it was.

From 6 PM on December 31 through 6 AM on the 1st, local officers in Los Angeles arrested 219 people across the county, and nearly a thousand people throughout the Golden State celebrated the ringing in of 2015 by getting handcuffed and charged per California Vehicle Code Section 23152 or 23153.

Talk about starting 2015 off on the wrong foot.

Depending on the nature of these allegations, defendants can face punishments ranging from severe fines and fees, to license suspensions, to probation, to significant jail time. In addition, their insurance rates can skyrocket, and they can face all sorts of indirect problems in their lives, including relationship troubles, getting reprimanded at work, and struggling with logistics, such as grocery shopping and child care.

The CHP noted that, over the 84 hour window that constitutes the New Year’s holiday, two people died in DUI crashes in Los Angeles County and 14 people across the state died.

To put these numbers in context – and to understand why this story is so important – we need to look at last year’s numbers. According to CHP records from 2014, only 104 people got arrested in Los Angeles County and only 457 people got arrested for DUI in California during the same time period.

Peter Bishop, a CHP Officer, told the Los Angeles Times that the spike in DUI arrests was “actually shocking because we have so much available [in the way of safe riding services Lift and Uber] now.”

When analyzing numbers like accident statistics or DUI statistics, you need to be very careful to avoid over-interpreting surprising results. For instance, does the doubling in DUI arrests across the state indicate an odd statistical artifact and nothing more? Or should we read the signal as indicating that driver behaviors have somehow taken a turn for the more dangerous?

Without more data points – and carefully controlled studies – we really can’t know.

If you have been struggling to try to figure out how to respond effectively to your recent charges, a Los Angeles DUI attorney with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can assist. Call us now to connect with a former prosecutor with nearly two decades of experience working on Los Angeles DUI cases.

Published on: January 13, 2014

Pasadena DUI Celebrity News: Omar Gooding, Nickelodeon Child Star, Makes Plea Deal for DUI

by Michael Kraut

A Los Angeles DUI charge can be a decidedly unpleasant experience. This is true, whether you’re an ordinary working guy, a big league athlete, or a former child star.

Consider, in that context, what’s happened to former child actor, Omar Gooding — the younger brother of Oscar-winning Actor, Cuba Gooding Jr.

Last October 20th, police arrested the 36-year-old Gooding in Los Angeles for DUI, after officers saw him run a stop sign. Gooding once hosted a show called Wild and Crazy Kids on Nickelodeon (during the 1990s), and he was also featured in Smart Guy and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper.

The police allegedly found weed on him, and they arrested him for alcohol and marijuana DUI.

So, what happened next?

Prosecutors initially charged him with possession of marijuana and Los Angeles DUI, but Gooding and his legal team pled down the charges. Gooding agreed to plead guilty to the charge of reckless driving. As punishment, he will have to attend Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotic Anonymous classes and face two years of probation. Gooding will not get any jail time.

Of course, the armchair psychologists were more than happy to dish out explanations for why Gooding got into legal trouble in the first place.

• “He was frustrated because he wasn’t getting more acting gigs.”
• “He was tired of living under his brother’s shadow”
• Etc.

Obviously, playing armchair psychologist is neither fair nor particularly helpful. As we’ve discussed many times on this blog, DUI cases are sometimes fiendishly difficult to understand, both logistically and psychologically.

The key to moving forward after a DUI is empathy. Try to understand what you are feeling, what you are needing and what would be most useful and nurturing. Also, consider calling Attorney Michael Kraut and his team today with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers for a free and thorough consultation about your Los Angeles DUI defense options.

Published on: November 20, 2013

Burbank Petty Theft and Grand Theft Auto V

by Michael Kraut

Funnily enough, if you stole a copy of Grand Theft Auto V (set in Los Angeles) you would be charged with petty theft in Burbank.

GT5 is a marketing phenomenon, for sure. But the underlying messages – both subtle and not so subtle – are pretty disturbing. The debate about video games, like GT5, that glorify violence and criminal activity, has been going on for decades. Some science suggests that kids (and adults) who play violent video games wind up acting violently themselves and committing crimes.

Of course, in observational science, it is difficult to determine causality. For instance, maybe kids from broken or violent homes play more video games. Their background could explain why video game playing might associate with violence. (In this case, the video games wouldn’t be the cause of the aggression but rather just an association.)

This Burbank theft crime blog is obviously too small to begin to articulate the many points and counterpoints in the “do videogame cause violence?” debate.

But it is useful to consider another strange feature of the game: Southern California freeways that are almost eeriely absent of cars and traffic. The game’s ghostly quiet streets recall the strange calm that happened during “Carmageddon.” It would probably be difficult to create a fun game, if players had to contend with real world obstacles, like bumper to bumper traffic, high gas prices, and the constant threat of drivers texting on cell phones veering into your lane.

This observation is interesting, in that it suggests that traffic conditions might influence the behavior of real world Grand Theft Auto in Los Angeles. Someone who ordinarily might NOT commit a crime could be inspired to steal a car, if opportunity presented and the context made sense. It suggests that context can have a profound effect on criminal behavior.

So if you’re trying to explain (or even just understand) your conduct, don’t just look at your own experiences, psychology and behavior. Also, consider the CONTEXT of your incident and arrest.

If that sounds complicated, it is!

Fortunately, you do not have to tackle your Los Angeles criminal defense by yourself. An experienced Burbank petty theft lawyer with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is standing by to provide a free and confidential consultation to help you get to the root of your charges and defend accurately against them.

Published on: November 2, 2013

Is Your Son’s Long Beach Theft Charge a “Gateway Charge” to Greater Crimes?

by Michael Kraut

Your young adult son recently called with bad news: he was arrested for petty theft in Long Beach.

Perhaps you bailed him out and had a stern, but open talk about what he did and why. Or perhaps you let him make his own bail and deal with the problem on his own, so that he could learn that “actions have consequences.”

As a concerned parent, however, you’re deeply worried. Is this petty theft charge “just the beginning”? Will he move onto more risky criminal behavior? Can you help him and/or at least mitigate your own potential liabilities?

These are incredibly tough questions. They’re very difficult even to talk about, let alone to address in a coherent, compassionate manner.

Some evidence suggests that “small” crimes, like misdemeanor petty theft in Los Angeles, can be gateway crimes. That is, they may be a prelude to bigger criminal problems. Now that your son has been arrested, he’s at heightened risk for committing other crimes, like Long Beach drug crimes, Burbank DUI, and even white-collar crimes.

So what can you do about the Long Beach grand or petty theft charges?

Since YOUR freedom is not on the line, you’re ultimately limited. But don’t give up! You can still help. First and foremost, if your son hasn’t yet retained a Los Angeles petty theft defense attorney, consider calling the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers to schedule a free and confidential consultation.

Attorney Kraut is an experienced criminal defense lawyer, who’s helped many people just like your son deal with extremely difficult charges. He’s also an ex-prosecutor, who spent 14+ years putting criminal offenders behind bars and punishing them. So he understands both sides of the law. That special advantage helps him build unique defense strategies for his clients.

Beyond that, you can also guide your son in other ways. For instance, you could encourage him to hang out with a different crowd – one that will be a better influence. Try using empathy to connect. And read great works about negotiation, like “Getting to Yes.”

For help understanding what options are available to you for Long Beach petty theft defense, get in touch with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers now to schedule a free consultation.

Published on: October 29, 2013

Your Lewd Conduct in Glendale Arrest: Will It Be Your Last? Or Are You Doomed to Be Arrested Again?

by Michael Kraut

When most people learn about the consequences for getting convicted of lewd conduct in Glendale, they freak out a bit. Convicted offenders can go to jail, often for a long time. They can also lose civil rights, endure professional and personal humiliation, and get stuck with the “sex offender” label forever.

Given all the “negatives” associated with conviction, you’d think that anyone who ever got in trouble for this crime would avoid any untoward sexual behavior going forward.

But you’d be wrong.

In fact, aberrant sexual behavior is as difficult to control as it is poorly understood.

You could endure awful punishments, only to find yourself pinned down with a future Glendale sex crime charge. What gives? Why is it so hard to break away from aberrant or destructive behavior like this?

Scientists throw out a lot of theories about what goes on in the brains of sex offenders. But the brain is complicated, and good science on the subject is hard to come by:

• What works to stop person X from committing crime X might not work to stop person Y from committing crime X.
• Likewise, therapies and tactics that work to stop person X from committing crime X might not stop him from committing crime Y.

This doesn’t mean that you should “give up” and just surrender to a life of crime and punishment. But it does mean that you probably have a lot of work to do.

If your Los Angeles lewd conduct charges involved exhibitionism or fetishism, odds are that you’re dealing with a problem that’s at least partly biological. The neural reward pathways (that lead to the bad behavior) may be deeply embedded in your brain. You may need a lot of help to get the behavior under control. Take heart, though. Many people — in situations much worse than yours — have been able to manage both their charges and their impulses and successfully rebuild their lives.

A Glendale sex crime lawyer with the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers can help you get very clear about your charges and what you can do about them, so that you can protect your rights.

Get in touch with a compassionate, knowledgeable Glendale lewd conduct attorney at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers now to explore your defense options.

Published on: October 15, 2013

Pasadena Medical Fraud Crackdown News: 89 Arrested, $223 Million in Fraud Alleged

by Michael Kraut

If you were arrested for Pasadena medical fraud recently, you have plenty of company.

In a massive bust a few months ago, the federal government arrested 89 people in Los Angeles, Houston, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Baton Rouge, Tampa, and Miami. Police grabbed documents, raided businesses, and aggressively pursued alleged wrongdoers. Of the 89 people snagged in the dragnet, 14 were nurses and doctors. Federal officials say that the 89 people collectively stole over $223 million from the taxpayers.

The schemes allegedly conducted were pretty diverse, although regular readers of our Pasadena criminal defense blog won’t be surprised:

• Some people pretended to be doctors to write fake prescriptions. Then they billed the federal government for the meds.
• In another scam, some folks bribed Medicare patients for their identification numbers and then billed the government for services never provided.
• The top suspect purchased a Ferrari and two Lamborghinis with the money he allegedly pilfered.

Eric Holder, the U.S. Attorney General, and Kathleen Sebelius, the head of Health & Human Services, worked with 400 federal agents to plan and execute the crackdown. Over the last four years, the anti-fraud Medicare strike force has arrested over 1,500 people and returned $8 for every dollar spent on investigations.

Despite these successes, Holder expressed doubt about whether the antifraud forces would continue to be funded at the same rate. The Justice Department may lose $1.6 billion due to sequestration. Holder worried to reporters that, “unless Congress adopts a balanced deficit reduction plan and stops the reduction currently slated for 2014, [our] capacity to protect the American people from healthcare fraud … will be further reduced.”

Implications for Pasadena Medicare Fraud Defendants
If you or someone you love got swept up in this dragnet — or if you stand accused of a Pasadena white collar crime, like insurance fraud or healthcare fraud — the team here at the Kraut Criminal & DUI Lawyers is standing by to listen to your story. We can give you the strategic guidance you need to regain a feeling of control. Get in touch with former prosecutor and Harvard Law School educated defense lawyer Kraut and his team today for the insights you need.

Published on: September 18, 2013

Long Beach Drug Crime Arrest – Two Men Jailed for Heroin and Meth, Three Other Search Warrants Filed

by Michael Kraut

CBS Los Angeles is reporting that two men were recently jailed for Long Beach drug crimes, following an investigation by local police.

Law enforcement officers tracking heroin trafficking got intel that led them to Bell Gardens — specifically, to the 7500 block of Jaboneria Road. The tipoff ultimately led to them to confiscate nine firearms, 12 pounds of drugs, and nearly $120,000 in cash.

Police arrested a Bell Gardens resident, 21-year-old Oscar Salmoran, after they served a warrant. They also confiscated 2.5 pounds of crystal meth and 3.5 pounds of heroin. Salmoran was booked and held without bail at Long Beach City jail.

This Long Beach drug crime bust led police officers take on additional targets the next day. After filing search warrants, police found six more pounds of heroin and $46,000 in cash at the 5300 block of Aldama Street. They also arrested 56-year-old Domingo Payan, who was held on $100,000 bail and booked for possession of narcotics with the intent to sell. Long Beach police also visited two homes on Montecito Street (2700 block) and collected nine more guns and $72,000 in cash.

Whether these seizures – and the intel that investigators collected – will lead to further search warrants, arrests, and raids is unknown. However, this kind of police finesse is not uncommon.

Drug users, purchasers, sellers, and suppliers relate to one another in a complex network, not unlike a computer network or even a Facebook or Twitter network. Even if you never intended to get tangled up with other drug groups or criminal networks, social connections that bind you to other criminals (or alleged criminals) can get you into more trouble than you bargained for.

For instance, let’s say you did business with a drug supplier who, in his line of work, committed a violent crime, like robbery, assault, or homicide. Depending on your relationship with that person — and the nature of the wrongdoing — you could face criminal charges, even if you had no knowledge of the criminal acts and didn’t directly help.

The interconnectivity among Long Beach drug crime defendants also makes it easier for police officers and investigators to “piece together” what you’ve done and whom you’ve done it with. It also increases the odds that you’ll be stuck with a very severe sentence, related to drug conspiracy charges and violent crimes, even if you never intended to “get in that deep.”

What to do regarding your Los Angeles crime charges?

Former prosecutor turned Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, Michael Kraut, can help you understand what potential punishments you might face and what you can do to defend yourself against the worst charges. Mr. Kraut built a reputation as a very aggressive prosecutor – racking up a 99%-plus success rate at jury trials. He now serves as a legal expert for KTLA News, ABC News, and other respected media organizations.