Man Charged With Smashing Windows Of LAPD Patrol Car, Stealing Computer
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A man was charged Thursday with smashing the windows of a Los Angeles Police Department car in the middle of busy Hollywood and stealing the officers' laptop computer.
Leyston Rice, 27, was charged with one count each of vandalism, burglary from a vehicle and grand theft. Rice is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.
Visitors to the busy Hollywood & Highland Center, where the patrol car was parked Tuesday afternoon, witnessed Rice using metal stakes to smash the windows, then removing the computer from the car, Deputy District Attorney Kaarin Axelsen said.
Rice walked a few feet away, opened the laptop and began pushing buttons, according to the prosecutor. He was then detained by area security officers.
The initial damage estimate to the patrol car is more than $2,600.
If convicted of all the charges, Rice faces up to three years in jail.