ENCINO : Robbins’ Ex-Tenant Denies Taking Goods
A former tenant accused of stealing expensive furniture and fixtures from the Encino home of former state Sen. Alan Robbins pleaded not guilty Thursday to a grand theft charge.
Ted Titmas is scheduled to return to Van Nuys Municipal Court for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 20.
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, filed for bankruptcy and was evicted. Court records say he told Robbins the furniture was placed in storage for safekeeping and that some of it had been auctioned by mistake.
When Robbins was released from prison, he returned to a house that had been stripped bare, police said. He reported $92,000 worth of furniture and fixtures missing, including expensive Persian and Chinese rugs, a chandelier, a hand-carved dining table and 10 chairs, a designer toilet and bidet, two bathtubs and sinks, 10 doors and seven sets of drapes.
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