Crime & Safety

Arcadia Woodlands 'Tree Sitters' Accept Plea Deal

The "Arcadia 4" to avoid jail time and heavy fines in deal struck with DA.

Andrea Bowers and Julia Posin--two of the four “tree sitters” who made headlines in January for their peaceful protest of Los Angeles County’s clearing of 11 acres of pristine oak woodlands in Arcadia--agreed to 10 days of community service in a plea deal struck Thursday with County prosecutors at Alhambra Superiour Courthouse.

John Quigley and Travis Jochimsen, the other two defendents both of whom have prior records, will reportedly receive 20 days of community service under a deal they have reached. In each individual's case, the community service can be done for an organization of their choosing.

Posin and Bowers--joined by the group’s attorney Colleen Flynn--appeared in court Thursday morning to accept the deal. Quigley and Jochimsen will appear in court on July 28 to finalize terms of their deals. Quigley declined comment on the deal pending full resolution of the case.

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The group faced charges of trespassing, disturbing the peace and delaying a peace officer for their actions in January.

Under the terms of the deal, the group agrees to plead no contest to the misdemeanor trespassing charge and will be placed on informal probation for 36 months, though the DA's office has indicated it will not object to the charge being dismissed after one year. In addition, the group agreed to a "stay away order' and will not be allowed to return to the now barren Woodlands. They also must pay $156 in mandatory court fees.

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Prosecutors had originally offered the group-who have been dubbed the "Arcadia 4" by supporters—a similar deal in March. But that offer tacked on $500 fines for Bowers and Posin and $1,000 fines for Quigley and Jochimsen. The previous deal also called for the defendants to pay a total of $2,700 in restitution for costs associated with their Jan. 12 protests.

The group balked at that deal and after Thursday's developments, their patience has clearly paid off.

Read more of our coverage of the Arcadia Woodlands.

Bowers called the deal "very good news" though there was one thing that bothered her.

"The thing that really stung [Thursday] was hearing the prosecuting DA call the county, 'The victim,'" Bowers wrote in an e-mail to Patch. "How ironic that is.  The Arcadia Woodlands and the citizens of this county are the real victims."

Bowers doled out special praise to Flynn for her "amazing job representing our voices." She pointed to a letter Flynn wrote to prosecutors, which cited the positive impact the group's protest has had on other public policy issues such as a similar Department of Public Works (DPW) plan at that has been put on hold pending the completion of an EIR. The black eye suffered by the the brakes being put on the Devil's Gate Dam project. 

Thursday's plea deal ends a long saga that began on Jan. 12 when the group climbed and stationed themselves in trees in an act of civil disobedience to stop a controversial county plan that removed more than 200 native oak and sycamore trees on 11 acres of land in Arcadia owned by County Flood Control.

The County bulldozed the trees and plant life in the area so that 250,000 cubic yards of sediment from the Santa Anita Dam could be put in their place. The DPW has said that the sediment had to be removed so that the dam could meet seismic requirements and continue to be the primary water supplier for both Arcadia and Sierra Madre.

Alternatives to the plan were submitted to the County by and other locals, but none proved feasible

Despite winning the courtroom battle, Bowers feels the fight is not over.

"All of us as citizens must continue to speak out in order to convince the Department of Public Works to change its cultural paradigm of going into natural areas and scraping and dumping sediment," she said. "We believe that the DPW can do its job of flood control and at the same time enhance its environment." 


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