Man Ordered to Pay $15,000 in Window-Smashing Spree

A former employee of a North Hollywood glass shop was ordered Wednesday to pay $15,000 in restitution for a vandalism spree in which he broke numerous store windows along Ventura Boulevard.

Richard Joseph Angona, 39, of Woodland Hills also was given a four-month suspended jail sentence, placed on probation for five years and ordered to perform 30 days of community work.

The former glass salesman was arrested Jan. 9 after a four-month window-smashing spree in which more than 350 Ventura Boulevard shop windows were broken. The loss was estimated at $180,000. Authorities suspect that other people might have broken some of the windows.

Angona pleaded no contest March 13 to one count of felony vandalism in exchange for dismissal of four similar counts.

According to a probation report released in Van Nuys Superior Court Wednesday, Angona used a BB gun to shatter most of the windows, often while driving to work in the morning.

The report dismissed the possibility that Angona broke the windows to drum up business for himself or his employer.

Probation Officer Fred Lewis termed the window smashing a “rather irrational” response to “family problems and long working hours.”

Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Tony Castaneda, who made no sentencing recommendation, said he was “not in disagreement” with the sentence imposed by Superior Court Judge Michael J. Farrell.

The investigation led to Angona after a witness provided police with a physical description and a partial license number of a car used by a man seen shooting out several windows.