VAN NUYS : Man Sentenced for Trespass After Quake

A Woodland Hills man who was convicted of looting an earthquake-damaged Granada Hills apartment building was sentenced to a one-year jail term after he pleaded no contest to a single charge of trespassing during a state of emergency, authorities said.

Larry Dean Wilson, 26, was ordered on Tuesday to begin serving his jail sentence immediately by Van Nuys Municipal Court Commissioner Mitchell Block. Wilson, who was carrying an 10 3/4-inch blade when arrested, also pleaded no contest to possessing an illegal weapon, according to a statement released Tuesday by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.

Wilson was found by Los Angeles police officers on Feb. 27 in a first-floor bedroom of a red-tagged building in the 8500 block of Balboa Boulevard. Police responded to a call that suspected looters had been seen in the area.

Wilson initially told police he was homeless, but after his arrest admitted he had come to the complex looking for “salvageable items,” the release said.

The city attorney’s office has handled at least six looting cases, said Rick Schmidt, supervising attorney of the Van Nuys office of the city attorney’s office.

In some cases, defendants suspected in looting cases were convicted on lesser charges, authorities said.

At least two men found with merchandise stuffed in their pockets were found guilty of curfew violations in the week of the Northridge earthquake, authorities said.

Another man, David Handell, 39, of Northridge, also pleaded no contest Wednesday to trespassing during a state of emergency about 6 p.m. Feb. 20 when police allegedly caught him leaving the building on Balboa Boulevard where Wilson was arrested, authorities said.

Handell, whose case also was heard by Block, was ordered to begin serving a 90-day jail term, Schmidt said.