Department of Corrections Officials Won’t Charge Rothenberg With Parole Violation
State Department of Corrections officials said Friday they had decided not to charge Charles Rothenberg with a parole violation for running from a parole agent who suspected him of shoplifting and questioned him at his San Francisco Bay Area apartment Thursday night.
Rothenberg, 51, surrendered to parole officials at an arranged location four hours later, after they reportedly promised him he would not be returned to prison.
Corrections spokesman Tipton C. Kindel said Friday that the parole status of Rothenberg, who torched his son with kerosene nine years ago in a Buena Park motel, would remain unchanged.
In interviews with The Times before and after his surrender, Rothenberg said he fled from the parole agent because he feared he was being set up for a shoplifting charge, which could have returned him to prison.
Kindel and Rothenberg agreed that Rothenberg fled after the agent questioned whether he had paid for two inexpensive plaques found in Rothenberg’s possession.
But Kindel denied there was any intent to frame Rothenberg.
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