459-460(b) PC Burglary; second degree, commercial structure

ON 03/04/19 WITHDREW GUILTY PLEAS.

484(a)-488 PC Petty Theft

ON 03/04/19 WITHDREW GUILTY PLEAS

594(a)(b)(1) PC Vandalism - damage $400.00 or more

Dismissed

On 7/06/2018 I went to my gym, the Renaissance Club Sport in Aliso Viejo, CA with both of my parents. Me and my family had been members since its initial opening over 10 years ago. I went for a normal workout while my parents went to the pool because it was over 100 degrees outside. I put my gym bag containing my wallet, [REDACTED] supplies, my house keys, and a change of clothes in one of the electric locking lockers that the gym provides (locker #51). After about an hour of exercise, I met up with my parents at the pool and stayed with them for several hours - having lunch and enjoying the day. It was during this time that I became disoriented from what I feel was a mixture of the high blood glucose levels, heat, and having recently finished my workout. I have been a [REDACTED] since January 14, 2004. I went to get my gym bag out of my locker but instead made a mistake. I had tried the 4-digit combination on the lockers key pad to open the locker but was unable to open it. In my confusion and worry to get my belonging I pulled on the locker, breaking it in the process. What I had not realized was that I was at the locker next to mine (locker #53). It was also to my misfortune that the bag in that locker was nearly identical to mine; a black Nike gym bag. Without hesitating I took the bag, put it over my shoulder, and got into the car with my parents. My family and I exited through the main check in area, and my Mother drove all of us home. None us of had recognized the bag wasn't mine. Meanwhile leaving my gym bag and all of my aforementioned belongings at the gym. After reaching the house I went inside, treated my extremely high blood sugar and went to sleep immediately. About 30 minutes later, I was later awoken by my father who was accompanied by a police officer. I was still not feeling well and still disoriented. They were questioning my mother, father and I about a gym bag that someone had reported as missing. My father escorted the policeman to find the bag which was located in the back of my parent's car we had taken to the gym. After we gave the police the gym bag, which we all still believed was mine, they started going through it and pulled out a set of keys. They asked if the keys belonged to me and I answered "No" as I had never seen them before. The next thing the police did was put handcuffs on me and stated my rights. Both of my parents and I protested, trying to explain that we had no idea it was not my bag until this moment and that this was just a misunderstanding. The police did not care and explained since I had said that the keys were not mine and they had received a complaint of missing items from the gym, that they needed to arrest me. They arrested me and alleged three charges; burglary, petty theft, and vandalism. PC -459-460(b), and PC484(a)-488, PC594 (a)/(b)(1) respectively. They then took me to the police station asked me more questions. I was booked and released after processing. The following day, we went back to the gym to talk about what had happened with the club's management. We were told by the club managers that lockers break often, the bag and its full contents were returned to its rightful owner within minutes. They also provided my original bag which had stayed at the gym since I had originally placed it there the previous day. The Renaissance club told us it was an honest mistake and that they would not be pressing charges or even be charging us for the repair of the locker. To this day, Pm an active member and they did not have any concerns about my character. Unfortunately, I was not able to contact the person who the gym bag belonged to apologize. Neither the gym or the individual who owned the bag pressed charges. All charges were carried forward solely by the police. In the following weeks, I had hired a lawyer who advised me on how to proceed. The case was never formally filed, and all charges were dropped on 3/04/2019.