Insufficient Evidence Found to Charge 2 in Boy’s Death

Citing insufficient evidence, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said Tuesday it will not file charges for now against two teen-agers who had been suspected of killing Jason Matthew Lea, a 9-year-old Upland boy whose body was found last week at the bottom of a cliff.

One of the two, Wayne O. Hobbs, 19, was ordered released after he and Richard LaLonde, 18, were placed in custody at the sheriff’s substation in Walnut Sunday when they surrendered. LaLonde, however, was expected to remain jailed on an outstanding probation violation stemming from a crime he committed as a juvenile, police said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Gary Hearnsberger said that, after reviewing the case, there was “insufficient evidence” to charge the two young men with the Lea boy’s death--in part because the Los Angeles County coroner’s office has not yet completed its investigation and has not yet determined precisely how Jason died.

An autopsy was conducted, but it failed to reveal a cause of death. Tests were continuing, according to Hearnsberger.

Two other teen-agers, ages 16 and 17, also were taken into custody in connection with the investigation. They are being held at San Bernardino County Juvenile Hall.

Jason disappeared on July 29 after leaving his home in Upland, in San Bernardino County, on his bicycle.

Witnesses have told police that he was last seen that night with several teen-agers. His bike was found outside a popular video arcade on Foothill Boulevard in Upland.

Jason’s partly decomposed body was found Friday by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s San Dimas Search and Rescue Team at the foot of a 200-foot cliff on Glendora Ridge Road, near the Mt. Baldy ski area, just inside the Los Angeles County line. The ski area is familiar to police as a “party rock” where teen-agers often gather for late-night revelry.

Upland Police Capt. Martin Thouvenell, one of the initial investigators on the case, called the decision to release Hobbs and LaLonde “unfortunate.”

“We felt there was enough there to go forward, but (the district attorney) did not think the evidence was there yet because of the delay at the coroner’s office,” Thouvenell said. “If it’s a natural death then we don’t have a homicide. So we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Despite recent television reports suggesting that Jason was under the influence of LSD after his abduction and may have overdosed, Thouvenell said he has no evidence confirming such stories.

“People are looking for some bizarre circumstances here, some satanic cult-type thing,” Thouvenell said. “The reality is probably much simpler than that.”

Father Is a Lawman

Relatives of Hobbs, whose father is a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy, and LaLonde could not be reached for comment Tuesday. But friends--many of whom had insisted that the accusations against the two teen-agers were a mistake--expressed relief that charges were not filed against them.

“I feel real happy because I knew he was innocent,” said Mike Kasbeck, 15, who lives down the street from Hobbs and went skateboarding and snake collecting with the older youth. “I feel sad that he got dragged into it, though. It just doesn’t seem fair.”

Kasbeck said he had talked to Hobbs on Friday, the day Jason’s body was found, and recalled that the teen-ager mentioned he had lent his white Ford pickup truck to one of the two juveniles in custody.

“He was telling me, ‘Don’t ever let anybody borrow your car, because it will only get you in trouble,’ ” said Kasbeck, noting that Hobbs was popular among younger friends who lacked transportation. “I figure he was trying to be nice and loaned (the suspects) his truck so they could have a good time. And then they went and messed his life up.”

Hobbs’ attorney, Barry Plotkin, said that while the truck may have been involved in the episode, his client did not willingly lend it to anyone.

“My client did not take part in this thing,” Plotkin said.

Kasbeck said that Hobbs’ parents, Diane and Gary Hobbs, were also convinced of their son’s innocence when he spoke with them Monday night.

“They were sad about the whole thing but knew Wayne wasn’t guilty,” Kasbeck said. Hobbs’ surrender Sunday night had been arranged by his parents and detectives, officials have said.

Meanwhile Tuesday, sheriff’s spokesman Pat Hunter said authorities plan to transfer the two suspects still in custody from San Bernardino County Juvenile Hall to a maximum-security juvenile facility in East Los Angeles. Although the teen-agers are from Upland, the case is being handled by Los Angeles County officials because Jason’s body was found just west of the San Bernardino County line.

Hearing Postponed

The suspects, whose identities are being withheld because of their age, were scheduled to be arraigned Monday. But a judge postponed the hearing until Thursday to give their attorneys time to review police reports.

Investigators have released little information about a possible motive in the crime, saying only that the four teen-agers were acquaintances who hung out at Upland Bowl together.

Times staff writer Jenifer Warren contributed to this article.