Community Activist Is Arrested
A Los Angeles-area community activist has been charged with unlawfully taking a vehicle and receiving stolen property, prosecutors said Thursday.
Melvin Farmer, who formed an antiviolence organization, pleaded not guilty at the Inglewood Courthouse on Tuesday. Sheriff’s deputies arrested him last Friday and booked him into the Los Angeles County jail. He is being held on $85,000 bail.
Farmer, 44, is a former gang member who grew up in South Los Angeles. His organization, Parents Against Public Abuse, helped plan a community meeting last month at Leimert Park to call for a gang truce and promote peaceful neighborhoods.
Farmer is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 8.
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