Renter of Robbins’ Residence Accused of Theft : Encino: Luxury home was stripped of $92,000 in furniture and fixtures while the ex-politician was in a federal prison camp.

While former state Sen. Alan Robbins was serving his time on federal racketeering and tax evasion convictions, he was also becoming the victim of a crime, say police and prosecutors in Van Nuys.

The man who rented Robbins’ Encino dream home while the prominent politician was behind bars allegedly took almost everything but the kitchen sink--although two bathroom sinks, a designer toilet and a bidet were, in fact, among the $92,000 worth of furniture and fixtures that Robbins reported missing, according to court records.

Ted Titmas, who rented Robbins’ house in the 16700 block of Oak View Drive, was named Wednesday in a warrant alleging a single count of grand theft, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert L. Cohen said.

The case for criminal charges against Titmas was strengthened by a witness who, according to court records, told police that Titmas offered to sell her Robbins’ cherished Senate desk for $2,000, saying: “He’s going to be in prison so long by the time he gets out, he won’t be able to do anything.”

Cohen said prosecutors would pursue the case like any other theft. “Mr. Robbins’ proven past indiscretions don’t allow others to prey on him without having to answer to the bar of justice,” Cohen said.

Robbins, who served two years in a Lompoc federal prison camp, said Wednesday that when he returned to his Encino estate after he was released from a halfway house in the spring, “I literally did not have a single piece of furniture. I didn’t have a chair to sit in.”

Robbins found the cupboard was not only bare--it was gone. And, according to a missing property report that Robbins filed with police, so were the kitchen counters, the bathtubs, Persian and Chinese rugs, a hand-carved dining room table and 10 chairs, big-screen television, seven sets of drapes, 10 doors, and antique fixtures and furniture, court records say.

“It’s kind of disconcerting to come back from being in a prison camp and see your house in that kind of stripped-down condition,” Robbins said in a telephone interview.

Authorities said the case initially appeared to be a civil dispute between Robbins and Titmas, who had agreed to rent the house with an option to buy it. The deal fell through, Titmas fell behind on his payments and eventually filed for bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, Robbins started eviction proceedings. But it took from June, 1993, to March to evict Titmas, according to court records.

Titmas told Robbins that he was placing Robbins’ possessions in storage for safekeeping, according to the court documents, but then Titmas fell behind on the storage payments and some of the furnishings were auctioned.

“It looked like Titmas was holding Alan Robbins at bay, telling him, ‘You’ll get it. You’ll get it,”’ Los Angeles Police Detective Tony Finchen said. “But Robbins got released early.”

The 18-year Democratic senator said he expects to recover a coffee table, desk and couch. Earlier this year, Titmas returned several other items that he claimed that he was holding for Robbins for safekeeping, including an Olympic torch that Robbins carried during the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

The filing of theft charges is another in a string of small legal victories for Robbins since his release.

In March, he won nearly $500,000 in a judgment against former real estate business partners who refused to pay him money owed while he was in prison. And just last month, the federal government--seeking $3.3 million in restitution from Robbins--joined him in his legal quest against other former co-investors who tried to shut Robbins out of profits.

“There is a tendency for a lot of men who are incarcerated to give up and not be able to fight legal proceedings on their behalf,” Robbins said.

“Either I was too dumb or too stubborn to give up. I felt I was paying my price for what I did that was wrong and that that entitled me to come back to society and get back what was my property.”