Man Pleads Guilty to Odd Crash at Gas Co. Facility in Playa del Rey

A 23-year-old man pleaded guilty today to damaging electrical panels and a natural gas valve at a Southern California Gas Co. facility in Playa del Rey before stealing a pickup truck and crashing it into a parked car.

James Viramonte Cogley pleaded guilty to one count each of arson, grand theft auto, unlawful taking of a vehicle and vandalism in the Feb. 17 crime on Gas Co. property in Playa del Rey.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Drew Edwards suspended a five-year sentence for Cogley and gave him to five years probation.

After vandalizing electrical panels at a storage facility in the 8100 block of Gulana Avenue, Cogley stole a pickup truck and drove it over a natural gas valve. The damage to the valve caused a leak that took workers about three hours to cap.

The pickup truck was found about a mile away, crashed into a parked car, prosecutors said.

Cogley was identified and arrested at a hospital, where he was treated for injuries suffered in the wreck.

--City News Service

PHOTO Patch file photo.

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