Young Reagan’s Phone Case Dropped

Michael Reagan, son of former President Ronald Reagan, won’t be prosecuted for making a threatening telephone call to a photographer because he has apologized to the man, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office said today.

A prosecutor dropped the misdemeanor telephone harassment case at the recommendation of a hearing officer who listened to Reagan apologize for leaving an obscenity-laced message on the answering machine of Roger Sandler.

The complaint against Reagan, 43, the adopted son of Ronald Reagan and his first wife, actress Jane Wyman, involved a dispute over the use of two of Sandler’s pictures in Reagan’s 1988 book, “On the Outside Looking In.” Sandler is seeking $1,500 for alleged copyright infringement because he wasn’t given credit and because he says he didn’t give permission for the photos to be published.

In the Jan. 15 telephone message, Reagan threatened Sandler and ended with the words: “I hope your (expletive deleted) family dies in a plane crash with you in it.”

The prosecutor’s office considered filing a misdemeanor charge of making an annoying phone call, which carries up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.