VAN NUYS : Officer Pleads Not Guilty to Charges

A Los Angeles police officer accused of falsely reporting that his car had been stolen, then setting fire to the vehicle to collect the insurance money pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Van Nuys Municipal Court to charges of arson and insurance fraud.

Stuart Howard Guy, 28, a 4 1/2-year LAPD veteran stationed at the Harbor Division, was arrested in July after Fire Department investigators spent months looking into a Sept. 2, 1992, car fire in the 6100 block of Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys.

If convicted of both the arson and fraud charges, Guy would face a maximum term of eight years in state prison.

It was in late August, 1992, when Guy reported to police that his 1991 Jeep Cherokee had been stolen from his girlfriend’s Glendale apartment, authorities said. Several days later, at midnight on Sept. 2, Guy’s vehicle went up in flames.

Hours after his vehicle was set ablaze, Guy attended an LAPD training session, where fellow officers noted that he had burns on his face and hands, prosecutors said.

Guy filed a claim with his insurance company and this led to the fraud charge, investigators said.

At Wednesday’s arraignment, Guy surrendered his California driver’s license. Prosecutors sought an order that the officer turn over the license because the photograph shows Guy wearing a police uniform.

Guy, who is free on $100,000 bail, was ordered to again appear in court Sept. 9 for a preliminary hearing.