ENCINO : Robbins’ Accused Tenant Freed on Bail

A tenant accused of stealing expensive furniture and fixtures from the Encino home of former state Sen. Alan Robbins was freed Thursday after posting $30,000 bail.

As he left his Encino home for a birthday party Wednesday evening, Ted Titmas was arrested and booked on suspicion of grand theft, authorities said.

He is scheduled to be arraigned in Van Nuys Municipal Court on Aug. 24, Deputy Dist. Atty. Herbert R. Lapin said.

According to police and court records, Robbins leased his home to Titmas while he was serving a federal prison sentence for racketeering and tax evasion. The lease for the house on Oak View Drive included a purchase option.

But Titmas fell behind on his payments and eventually filed for bankruptcy. After being evicted, he told Robbins the furniture had been placed in storage for safekeeping, and that some of it was auctioned by mistake.

Upon his release from prison, Robbins discovered that the house had been stripped bare. He reported $92,000 worth of furniture and fixtures missing, including desks, a hand-carved dining table and 10 chairs, expensive Persian and Chinese rugs, a Senate desk, antique fixtures, a chandelier, designer toilets and a bidet, two bathtubs and sinks, 10 doors and seven sets of drapes.