Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Bail Set at $100,000 for Suspected Supremacist : Crime: Jace Edwards, charged with a driving offense, also may be linked to racial tensions at Canyon High School.

A Canyon Country man suspected of being a white supremacist was in jail Thursday in lieu of $100,000 bail on a charge of committing a misdemeanor driving offense while on probation.

Parents of Jace Edwards, 18, said their son, who pleaded not guilty, was given a high bail because prosecutors are too embarrassed to release him following heavy media coverage of accusations that he was part of a “white power” group that ignited racial tensions at Canyon High School last week.

“They’ve picked him as a scapegoat,” said Edwards’ father, Robert.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Damon said accusations that Jace Edwards belongs to an extremist group have nothing to do with the current charges filed against him. Damon also said the high bail was requested because the youth failed to show at court hearings on previous cases and appeared to have the means to post the bail.

“He bragged to the arresting officers that he recently got $600,000 in a traffic accident settlement and he would easily be able to make bail,” Damon said.

Robert Edwards said the settlement is being paid over a 20-year time span, and his son is currently broke.

Newhall Municipal Court Judge Keith Byram set a bail review hearing for Monday. A jury trial on the charges is scheduled June 10.

The extremist group, known informally at the school as the “white power” group, is accused of sparking two racially motivated fights involving 20 to 30 students near Canyon High School on May 10. Deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff’s station showed up in force the next day to break up an apparently impending fight involving about 80 students, and patrolled the area around the campus for several days afterward.

Jace Edwards was arrested near the school Tuesday on suspicion of driving with a suspended license and carrying three knives in his car. He was suspected of helping to ignite racial tensions at the school during a period of several days, although he did not participate in the fights.

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He was booked into custody in lieu of $500,000 bail after his arrest because deputies argued that he was a flight risk because he was on probation. In addition, youths were looking to confront Edwards, said Sgt. Lee White, head of the Career Offenders Burglary Robbery Apprehension (COBRA) team, which investigates gang crimes.

“It’s not necessarily just for his protection,” he said. “It’s to keep the peace in the community. There’s a lot of tension out there and it could be aggravated by this individual and his friends.”

Deputy Public Defender James Racusin said Jace Edwards is a developmentally disabled youth who joined the extremist group for the companionship, but dropped out of it before the incidents at Canyon High School.