Hot-Rod Driver Agrees to Stay Out of Neighborhood : Courts: Man accused of terrorizing Torrance neighbors is told to avoid the area or face a 275-year jail term.

A man accused of terrorizing his Torrance neighbors by hot-rodding in his souped-up Volkswagen Beetle pleaded no contest to 732 criminal charges Tuesday and agreed to stay out of the neighborhood or face a 275-year jail sentence.

Jonathan Shane Allabaugh, 21, said at a hearing in South Bay Municipal Court that he will move out of the Torrance hillside enclave known as the Hollywood Riviera, where Spanish street names translate to the Way of the Serene and the Road of Enchantment.

South Bay Municipal Court Judge Benjamin Aranda said he is prepared to sentence Allabaugh to the maximum jail term if he breaks the law or so much as sets foot in the Hollywood Riviera after June 1.

“I don’t care if it’s spitting on the sidewalk, smoking a marijuana cigarette or going back into that area again,” Aranda said. “If you do any of those things, I will sentence you to 275 years, I promise you that.”

The judge’s ruling ratified an unusual plea agreement between Torrance prosecutor J.D. Lord and Allabaugh’s attorney, Kevin Donahue.

In exchange for a guarantee that he not be sent to jail, Allabaugh chose not to fight 730 charges--one count of disturbing the peace and one count of driving on a suspended license for every day of the year that ended last Aug. 31. He also pleaded no contest to charges of assault with a deadly weapon--for driving toward a man--and brandishing a firearm (a shotgun).

Allabaugh faced 275 years in jail--five years for the weapons charges combined, six months for each charge of driving on a suspended license and three months for each charge of disturbing the peace. Aranda stayed the jail time and placed Allabaugh on probation for the same period.

The man described by Lord as an “urban terrorist” spoke softly Tuesday as he agreed not to venture into the neighborhood bounded by Pacific Coast Highway, Palos Verdes Drive, Hawthorne Boulevard and Palos Verdes Boulevard.

The strapping young man has lived for several years with his grandmother and great-grandmother on Via Colusa near the center of the off-limits zone, which also includes parts of Palos Verdes Estates and Rolling Hills Estates. He agreed to move out by June 1.

“My position is that I do not want to see this neighborhood disturbed again in any way, shape or form,” Aranda said, glaring at the defendant. “Am I going to see you again?”

“No, sir,” Allabaugh answered quietly.

Allabaugh declined to speak to a reporter, but Donahue called the charges overblown. He said Allabaugh and his baby-blue Volkswagen bug were out of town on many of the days he was accused of disturbing neighbors.

But prosecutor Lord said Allabaugh had been convicted in 1987 of disturbing the peace and that, soon after his one-year probation in that case was completed, he began roaring up and down his street again.

Several residents on Via Colusa sent complaints and a petition to Lord. They said Allabaugh drove across their lawns, aimed his car at pedestrians and made obscene gestures at anyone who told him to slow down.

One woman, who lives down the block, said she is relieved at the sentence.

“I’m sorry it came to that.” she said. “I’m sorry he couldn’t get his act together. But sometimes you have to be really harsh because he just doesn’t understand.”