Trial Date Set for Deputy in Theft Case
A June 19 trial date has been set for a Ventura County sheriff’s deputy accused of taking car stereo speakers from the scene of a fatal car wreck.
James Christopher Bridges, 29, of Santa Paula is charged with one misdemeanor count of misappropriation of lost property. He is suspected of taking speakers valued at about $200 from a crash scene last December after a driver rolled his car down an embankment near Fillmore and died.
Bridges did not appear for an arraignment in Ventura County Superior Court on Wednesday. Santa Monica attorney Howard A. Liberman entered a plea of not guilty on Bridges’ behalf.
Liberman declined to comment on the case after the arraignment.
If convicted, Bridges faces up to six months in jail, a $1,000 fine or both. He is on paid leave from his job.
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