Local News in Brief : Man Pleads Not Guilty to Theft From Charity

A former fund-raiser for Retinitis Pigmentosa International pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he illegally took $41,066 from the Woodland Hills-based charity’s bank accounts.

Daniel J. Sonners, 29, of Malibu, has been charged with one count of grand theft and five counts of possession of completed checks with intent to defraud, authorities said. Sonners is free on $1,000 bail. He was arrested by Los Angeles police July 29.

Sonners also pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from a scuffle with one of the charity’s officials.

Detective Anthony DiRuscio said the charity, which funds eye-disease research, reported July 25 that several checks had been forged and an estimated $50,000 had been taken from its bank accounts. DiRuscio said an investigation determined that Sonners had illegally cashed 12 of the charity’s checks totaling $41,066. DiRuscio said none of the money, which came primarily from donations, has been recovered.

Police said Robert Harris, 29, the charity’s operations manager, confronted Sonners the morning of July 25 and attempted to hold him in the charity’s office until police could be called. However, police said, a scuffle ensued and Sonners shoved Harris into a door, slightly injuring his back and hand, and fled.

Sonners had been hired about two months before that by the 15-year-old charity to plan a year-end telethon aimed at raising $1.5 million for a research project.