Man Pleads No Contest in Vandalism

A former employee of a North Hollywood glass shop charged with breaking numerous shop windows on Ventura Boulevard during a four-month vandalism spree pleaded no contest Wednesday to one count of felony vandalism.

Richard Joseph Angona, 39, of Woodland Hills, also agreed to pay $15,000 for the windows he was charged with breaking. He could face up to a year in jail under the terms of a plea agreement when he is sentenced April 3.

Angona was arrested Jan. 9 after a lengthy investigation by the Los Angeles police into a long-running vandalism problem in which 367 Ventura Boulevard shop windows worth about $180,000 had been shattered since July.

He was charged with five counts of vandalism stemming from incidents between October and January in which 32 windows were shattered.

Police said Angona is suspected of breaking at least 50 other windows but charges were not filed in those cases.

It is also believed that vandals, who were not involved with Angona, broke numerous windows during the spree. No other arrests have been made.

Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Anthony Castaneda said Angona’s motive for breaking the windows was unclear.

“I don’t think he was drumming up business” for the glass shop where he worked, Castaneda said. “It had to be more of a psychological reason.”

Castaneda and police said Angona had recently separated from his wife and was under a lot of emotional strain at the time the windows were broken. He also apparently enjoyed shattering the windows, often while driving to work, authorities said.

“There were several issues involved in the motive,” Detective Tony Vlaskamp said. “There was some indication that this became a game for him after a while.”

The investigation led to Angona after a witness provided police with a description and partial license plate number of the car used by a vandal who was seen breaking windows with a pellet gun. A gas-powered pellet gun was seized when Angona was arrested. He was fired from his longtime job as a salesman at North Hollywood Glass & Mirror Co. after his arrest.

Police said there was no evidence that Angona or the company benefited financially from the glass-breaking spree.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, four counts of vandalism against Angona will be dropped, but he will pay restitution for damages linked to all five original charges, Castaneda said. Angona could also serve up to one year in the County Jail and five years probation.

“If you went out and broke some more windows, you could go to prison,” Castaneda told Angona while explaining the agreement.

“I understand,” Angona said.

Angona, who is free on $5,000 bail, declined comment after the hearing in Van Nuys Municipal Court.

Vlaskamp said the police effort to identify other vandals who took part in the rash of window smashing is continuing, but since Angona’s arrest there have been few additional incidents.