D.A. Reiner Honors 5 Who Helped

Robert Uzell was driving to work last summer when he saw a young man sneak up on a woman at a bus stop and snatch her purse.

Chazz Jones was in his office when he saw a man climb out of a window of a nearby apartment house.

Dean Leonetti was driving when he saw another vehicle strike two boys and take off.

The three men, all San Fernando Valley residents, could have just called the police. But each of them lifted more than a finger to help police catch the criminals. Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner on Monday honored them, and two Hancock Park residents who did not attend the ceremony, with Courageous Citizen awards at a gathering of lawyers and judges in a San Fernando courtroom.

It was the first time Reiner has visited the Valley to honor recipients since he created the awards in 1984. He has given them out in five areas of the county.

“You have demonstrated that quality--courage--that no one really knows they have until that moment when they are tested,” Reiner said to the recipients, who were nominated by local deputy district attorneys. “We have far too many people who look the other way, both literally and figuratively.”

Uzell, 36, a real estate agent who lives in Mission Hills, pursued the purse-snatcher first by car and then on foot, scaling fences and dodging neighborhood dogs, until he tackled him in a North Hollywood parking lot. The victim got her purse back, and the man was eventually sentenced to a year in County Jail and three years’ probation.

“I hate thieves, period,” Uzell said when asked why he jeopardized his safety to chase the purse-snatcher. “I feel if people have good health and are in a place where there are many opportunities, there is no excuse for breaking into people’s homes and possessions.”

Although Reiner commended Uzell and the others for their bravery, he said he did not expect the average citizen to leap fences and chase criminals. He said he hoped the examples set by the honorees would inspire people who witness crimes to report them to police and to testify in court.

Jones, 30, manager of an air-conditioning company who lives in Thousand Oaks, stopped the man who had climbed out of the apartment window and asked him what he was doing. The reply, “visiting my brother,” did not satisfy Jones, who followed him by car to another apartment house. Jones’ secretary called police, who searched the man’s apartment and found evidence linking him to several other burglaries in the area, Reiner said.

Leonetti, 34, a disc jockey who lives in Sherman Oaks, chased the hit-and-run driver and used his car as a battering ram to stop her vehicle. Despite damage to his car, Leonetti said, he does not regret his actions because it was “something I just had to do.”

The other two people honored, Lisa and Michael Mulvey, could not attend the ceremony because of a death in the family. In November, 1986, the Mulveys found a bloody envelope on a sidewalk near their Hancock Park home. The envelope bore the name of Secretary of State March Fong Eu, who lived nearby. A fingerprint on the envelope led to the arrest of Gregory Lee Moore, who was later convicted of a series of robberies that included the beating and robbery of Eu. Moore was sentenced in September to 25 years in prison.