2 Plead Not Guilty in LAX Theft Case

Two of the more than 30 parking lot employees at Los Angeles International Airport arrested last week pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of embezzlement of public funds, but details of the case remain shrouded in mystery.

Deputy Dist Atty. Peter Berman--telling reporters that estimates of the amount of money allegedly taken remain “pure speculation”--said it will be about two weeks before indictments by the Los Angeles County Grand jury will be made public.

He did say that because of the recent installation of a computerized accounting system to cut losses, the total should be “substantially less” than the $6 million taken in similar thefts from LAX parking lot revenues in 1984.

Berman said that because the indictments remain sealed, he could not divulge any information about the exact number of indictments, the number of arrests, the precise nature of the alleged crimes or how they were uncovered.

On Friday, airport officials said more than 30 employees of Parking Concepts Inc., which operates the 25,000-space airport parking concession, were arrested.

A district attorney’s list indicates 34 suspects had been indicted and six more had been named on “probable cause” arrest warrants.

Twenty-five of the suspects appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday. Twenty-three of them agreed to postponement of their Superior Court arraignments until Friday.

The other two, Dagnaschew Teshome and Aster Belete, opted for preliminary hearings, and their arraignments were rescheduled for Los Angeles Municipal Court.