Arrest Warrant Issued for Newspaper Owner in Assault, Drug Case

The co-owner of the Antelope Valley Press is being sought for arrest after failing to show up for his scheduled arraignment on charges of cocaine possession and assault with a deadly weapon, the Los Angeles district attorney’s office said Friday.

William W. Odett, 45, faces the felony drug and weapons charges in connection with a May 16 incident in which he forced a telephone company employee to leave his property at gunpoint, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen L. Cooley. Odett is also charged with two misdemeanors--brandishing a firearm and delaying a law enforcement officer, Cooley said.

Antelope Municipal Court Judge Ian R. Grant issued an arrest warrant Thursday after Odett did not show up for his 10 a.m. arraignment, Cooley said.

Attorney Michael C. Eberhardt, who represented Odett at an earlier appearance, was removed from the case at his own request after citing unspecified conflicts of interest, said Elke Matthews, Division 1 court clerk. She said the court had not been informed whether Odett has other counsel.

Larry Grooms, editor of the Antelope Valley Press, said he had no way of reaching Odett, who also serves as treasurer of Antelope Valley Newspapers Inc., which owns the paper. Phone calls to Odett’s home were not answered Thursday or Friday.

The charges stem from a May 16 incident in which Odett reportedly pointed a shotgun at the head of a Pacific Bell employee who was approaching Odett’s house to deliver a telephone directory, Cooley said. Odett allegedly threatened to shoot the 39-year-old woman and walked her to the street with the gun pointed at the back of her head.

Sheriff’s deputies went to Odett’s house and asked him to come out unarmed, which he did after waiting about 45 minutes.

When Odett was searched at the sheriff’s station, deputies said they found 1.67 grams of cocaine. He was released May 17 on $15,000 bail and his June 10 arraignment had been postponed until Thursday, Cooley said.

Odett and his brother, Lamont Odett Jr., are part owners of the privately held Antelope Valley Press, Grooms said. The Palmdale-based newspaper is published five days a week and has a circulation of 60,000, Grooms said.