Gene MaddausThis morning, prosecutors charged Hawthorne Mayor Larry Guidi with commercial burglary and grand theft for allegedly stealing a food mixer from his employer, the Hawthorne School District.
Prosecutors said that Guidi used the appliance to make pizza dough at home, according to the Daily Breeze. When the investigation was first announced last month, we speculated that he was using it to make pasta dough. So that's pretty darn close.
Guidi has been mayor for 17 years. Remarkably, this is the first time he's ever been charged with a crime. He has been investigated several times, most recently by the L.A. County grand jury, which indicted his pal, Councilman Louis Velez, on a conflict of interest charge.
It has three speeds!
If convicted of the felony charges, Guidi would be forced to resign.
According to the L.A. Times, the alleged theft was captured on a security camera. Guidi has long been the district's facilities manager, which would give him access to the district's prized trove of kitchen appliances.
He has been on leave since April, shortly after the mixer went missing.
Of course, we still haven't heard Guidi's side of the story. There could be a reasonable explanation.
Maybe he wanted to make pizza for the kids at Hawthorne Middle School, but the oven in the school cafeteria wasn't up to the standards of Guidi's home kitchen.
Maybe the mixer was not being put to its highest and best use, so Guidi decided to exercise his own personal right of eminent domain.
A creative defense lawyer can certainly come up with something.
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