Hawthorne mayor probed in alleged theft of food mixer
By Sandy Mazza Staff Writer
Posted: 05/06/2010 06:24:08 PM PDT

Hawthorne Mayor Larry Guidi is under investigation in the alleged theft of a high-quality electric food mixer from the school district where he has worked for a decade, officials said Thursday.

Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Dave Demerjian, who heads the DA's Public Integrity Division, confirmed that Guidi could be charged with two felony theft-related crimes if his office decides to prosecute the 17-year mayor.

"The nature of the investigation is a theft of a food mixer, an industrial Mixmaster," Demerjian said. "Charges would be grand theft and commercial burglary, since it was stolen from a warehouse."

Demerjian said his office would decide within a week whether there is enough evidence to charge Guidi with the crime. If he is charged and convicted of either felony, Guidi would have to vacate his position as mayor.

Several people familiar with the investigation said there is video evidence of the crime.

Guidi was placed on paid administrative leave on April 6 from his job as facilities and warehouse manager for the Hawthorne School District. At the time, officials would not say why Guidi was removed, pending an investigation.

Guidi did not return a call and e-mail for comment on Thursday, but his longtime City Council ally, Councilwoman Ginny Lambert, said she does not believe he stole the kitchen appliance.

"I know Larry does not steal, and I believe it was going to be tossed out or auctioned off," Lambert said of the mixer. "They're making a big deal out of nothing. They were going to get rid of it. Larry doesn't steal."

Councilman Danny Juarez, who is serving as acting mayor pro tem, expressed sympathy for Guidi.

"I'm very sorry to hear about what transpired," Juarez said. "I pray for him and his family during these tough times, and I don't know what effect it will have on his position on the council."

This is the second time Guidi has faced an investigation by the DA's Public Integrity Division. In 2005, his relationship with a towing company doing business in the city was questioned. Guidi, his relatives and co-worker Louis Velez - whom he helped get elected to the City Council - obtained vehicles at below-market prices from S&W Towing Co., which was the city's police towing service.

Velez was Guidi's ally on the council and his co-worker at the school district. He was removed from the council in 2008, after he pleaded guilty to a felony conflict-of-interest charge for voting on city development projects that were proposed by his landlord.
 

Hawthorne Mayor Guidi charged with grand theft, commercial burglary
By Sandy Mazza Staff Writer
Posted: 06/08/2010 09:43:52 AM PDT

Hawthorne Mayor Larry Guidi was charged Tuesday with two felonies related to the theft of a commercial food mixer from his employer, charges that could drive him from office and send him to prison for three years.

Guidi, who has served as mayor for 17 years, reportedly told investigators he needed the mixer to make more dough for his home pizza oven.

Prosecutors will ask that Guidi's bail be set at $20,000 when he appears for arraignment today in Los Angeles Superior Court. Guidi faces up to three years in state prison if convicted of one count of grand theft and one second-degree commercial burglary charge.

Under state law, Guidi would be forced to forfeit his elective office if he were convicted of a felony.

Guidi allegedly stole the device on March 25 after hiding it in a warehouse at the Hawthorne School District, where he has worked as a facilities manager since 2000. He was placed on administrative leave from his job on April 6, pending the District Attorney's Office investigation.

Investigators said they do not know if Guidi ever used the mixer to make pizza, but he voluntarily surrendered the appliance to Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies. Guidi, who routinely espouses pride in his Italian-American heritage and food, did not return calls for comment on Tuesday.

In an article published in online magazine i-Italy, Guidi talked at length about his appreciation for Italian-American culture and food.

"Everyone knows that I am an Italian mayor," he said. "I've eaten pasta and polenta. And family is very important to us. My granddaughter loves caciocavallo and she eats mozzarella (cheeses). My wife is Dutch but she cooks Italian - lasagna, sausage and peppers."

Guidi's alleged theft could have gone unnoticed had an alert co-worker - and a former political ally - not noticed the missing item from a storage area outside a Hawthorne School District warehouse, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Ed Miller said.

Louis Velez, a former Hawthorne city councilman and Guidi supporter, allegedly searched for the lost equipment in the warehouse and found it strategically hidden, Miller said.

"In the back of the storage area behind a bunch of chairs and boxes, he found the mixer all wrapped up in black plastic," Miller said. "He subsequently set up a video camera to surveil the area."

That surveillance camera caught Guidi on a recording taking the mixer, officials said.

Velez was elected in 2003 but gave up his seat in 2007, after he was indicted by the Los Angeles County grand jury for having a conflict of interest in voting to approve a contract by developer Mohamad Pournamdari, who was also his landlord. Pournamdari is also a longtime campaign contributor to Guidi and his allies.

As a councilman, Velez was a staunch ally of Guidi and was investigated alongside him in 2004, when the pair was suspected of obtaining vehicles at below-market prices from the city's towing contractor and then selling them for a profit.

Guidi faced another District Attorney's Office investigation in 1994, after he fired a gun in the air as he chased a 14-year-old and two of his accomplices who tried to steal a neighbor's car. Guidi was not charged then.

Guidi, 52, has worked as facilities manager at Hawthorne School District since 2000, and has served as mayor of the city since 1993. As manager of the district's facilities and warehouses, Guidi oversees new construction projects and property acquisition.

Hawthorne School District Superintendent Don Carrington said Tuesday that Guidi remains on administrative leave from his job.

"I have no further comment other than his status is the same," Carrington said. He refused to say whether employees who face felony charges can be fired, but Velez was not fired after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to a felony conflict-of-interest charge.

Jim Mitsch, Hawthorne's interim city manager, said he was surprised to learn the charges were filed.

"There are a lot of people that are inquiring as to what's happening," he said. "There's been rumors around but this sort of shocked most people in the city."