Oscar Bandit Tied to New Heist

A man convicted of stealing dozens of Oscar statuettes just days before last year’s Academy Awards was arrested in Fullerton on Friday on unrelated theft charges.

Lawrence Ledent, who was scheduled to begin serving a six-month jail term in Los Angeles on Wednesday in connection with the Oscar theft, was arrested by Fullerton police for allegedly stealing 100 pallets from Veg/Land Inc., a Fullerton company where he worked as a truck driver.

Ledent, who pleaded innocent Tuesday to one count of grand theft and one count of theft with a prior theft conviction, is being held in Orange County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Earlier this year, the 38-year-old former Roadway Express truck driver pleaded no contest to one count of grand theft in connection with the Oscars case.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler issued a bench warrant for Ledent, who will return to face his jail term after the current case’s resolution.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Lockhart said Ledent was apparently caught on videotape making off with the pallets, worth about $7 a piece. Lockhart added that after Ledent’s arrest, he told police he had received information that he would be able to sell the pallets to an unknown source in Ontario.

Ledent is due to appear in Fullerton court Tuesday for a pretrial hearing.