134 Men, 3 Women Arrested in Child Support Roundup

District attorney’s investigators arrested 134 fathers and three mothers in a weekend crackdown on parents delinquent in making court-ordered child support payments, including a chef at a prestigious hotel who was pulled from his kitchen as he worked on a banquet.

Investigators planned to continue the roundup today, and perhaps into the week, said investigator Larry Moute.

“It’s been a very fruitful sweep,” he said. “We’re looking forward to getting 150, at least.”

Warrants were issued for about 500 delinquent parents in Southern California before the Columbus Day weekend sweep began, district attorney’s spokesman Schuyler Sprowles said. The roundup began Friday, employing 16 teams of two investigators.

Although almost all of those arrested were men accused of failing to make support payments to former wives, three mothers were also arrested. They were accused of having left children with relatives who had obtained support orders, Moute said.

One of the arrested fathers is a chef at the Century Plaza, who was collared as he helped prepare a banquet for a black tie-and-ballgown crowd, Moute said.

“We also got a guy who was working in a McDonald’s in Corona,” he said. “The bail is $2,500, and as the investigators took him out the door, the manager gave him $2,500 in cash from the register so he could make bail right away. That’s what you call a trusted employee.”

The sweep was “low key,” he said. Although all those arrested had been sent warning letters by Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, the weekend arrests were not preceded by the stern notices and buildup of publicity of previous roundups, usually conducted on the Father’s Day weekend.

In the Father’s Day roundup last June, 239 men were arrested.

Kern, Orange, Riverside, Ventura, Sacramento and Santa Cruz counties have amnesty programs under which parents who are delinquent in support payments can avoid prosecution by arranging with the district attorney’s office to pay off the arrears.

Los Angeles feminist attorney Gloria Allred has urged the development of a similar program for Los Angeles County. The district attorney’s office has so far refused, saying that the prospect of amnesty encourages delinquent parents and that the threat of time in jail moves them to pay.