D.A. Reduces Charge Against Man Who Faced Prison Term for Stealing Bologna

A transient who faced up to three years in prison for stealing a $1.49 package of bologna walked out of court a free man Friday after Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner ordered the felony charge against him reduced to a misdemeanor.

The transient, Leonard James Hazlett, 38, was sentenced by San Fernando Superior Court Judge Joyce Kennard to two years’ probation after pleading guilty to petty theft. Hazlett, who said he took the bologna from a market in Sylmar on June 13 because he was hungry, had been in jail for 27 days before his release Friday.

Hazlett initially was charged with a felony because he had previous convictions for petty theft. Under California law, prosecutors have the option of treating repeat petty-theft cases as felonies or misdemeanors.

But in response to Hazlett’s case, Reiner announced Wednesday that his office would not file felony charges against people accused of stealing small amounts of food.

Hazlett’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Gerald T. Richardson, said he was pleased by the outcome of the case, and added that he understood how prosecutors at first sought a felony conviction.

“A lot of people in this building are overworked and filing this case as a felony was just an automatic response,” Richardson said. “They just didn’t take the time to look at the human side of it.”

Hazlett, whose father met him outside the courthouse, said he plans to look for a job as an aircraft worker, a trade he learned in school. His father, Dan Hazlett, said his son can stay with him in Lakeview Terrace as long as he does not use drugs.

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