2 Mistaken Jail Releases to Be Studied : Law enforcement: County supervisors order Sheriff’s Department and D.A. to investigate the recent incidents in which suspected killers went free.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors ordered the Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney’s office Tuesday to investigate two recent incidents in which suspected killers were mistakenly released from county jails.

“We’re trying to find out what happened, where the breakdown was,” said Debbie Crawford, law enforcement aide to Supervisor Deane Dana, who sponsored the motion. “We’re hoping that this isn’t going to be a trend because a lot of people have blamed ‘three strikes’ and overcrowding and we need to look into it.”

The mistakes occurred within a week of each other but a Sheriff’s Department spokesman pointed out that they took place at different facilities and apparently had different causes.

The first incident took place July 21 when a Glendale travel agent awaiting trial on charges of killing a business competitor was released from Sybil Brand Institute for Women after her name was accidentally placed on a computerized list of prisoners to be freed.

The woman, Anait Zakarian, 22, is believed to have fled the country.

In the second case, a Pacoima man suspected of killing a woman in a drunk driving accident was released from Men’s Central Jail when California Highway Patrol officers failed to submit the required paperwork to the Sheriff’s Department and prosecutors. The release occurred July 26 but was only publicly disclosed through media accounts last week.

The man, Angel Moya, 26, was released after being held for 48 hours and has since disappeared. Under state law, suspects are freed if charges are not filed within 48 hours.

“We’ve pretty much acknowledged the first case was a major screw-up, but to link these two incidents is not necessarily appropriate,” said Capt. Jeff Springs. “They seem to have occurred for entirely different reasons.”

The CHP has accepted responsibility for the Moya incident, blaming it in part on an inexperienced officer and a time-consuming search for more witnesses to bolster their case.

In the Zakarian case, the Sheriff’s Department has acknowledged its mistake as well.

Springs, a sheriff’s spokesman, said the department has been investigating why the errant computer entry occurred.

“What we’re doing is investigating what occurred procedurally, whether it was increased workload, which may or may not be related to ‘three strikes,’ or whether it’s simply that our procedures are not good enough,” he said.

The Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney’s office are scheduled to report back to the board by Sept. 26 on how they might prevent such mistakes.