Burbank case dropped against alleged pigeon feeder after good behavior

This post has been corrected. See details below.

Charges against the 60-year-old businessman accused of feeding a growing flock of pigeons near Bob Hope Airport -- causing a safety hazard for air traffic -- were dismissed last week after officials determined he had stayed out of trouble for the last six months.

After Charles Douglas pleaded no contest last year to one count of public nuisance, Asst. City Atty. Danny Wei said they would drop the charges if he complied with conditions handed out in his February sentencing.

“He did,” Wei said.

Officials determined Douglas had stayed away from feeding birds within 100 yards of his business, Wei said, and dropped the charges.

But his attorney, Donald Ingalls, had said last year that Douglas was innocent and only took the deal because he couldn’t afford to go to trial.

Ingalls could not immediately be reached for comment, but last year, he claimed that an airport officer wrongly accused Douglas of feeding the birds when he spotted him with a cup in his hand and noticed seeds about 75 to 80 feet from his business.

A search of his property and vehicles for bird seeds, Ingalls alleged, came up empty.

But airport authorities said Douglas had been feeding and attracting a large flock of pigeons since September 2010, violating Burbank municipal code.

Douglas was convicted in 2010 and 2011 for violating the code, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court records.

-- Alene Tchekmedyian and Veronica Rocha, Times Community News

Follow Alene Tchekmedyian on Google+ and on Twitter: @atchek.

[For the Record, March 7, 2013: In an earlier version of this post, Denny Wei’s first name was incorrect.]