HUNTINGTON BEACH – The wife of a San Clemente man arrested on embezzlement charges is asking the city of Huntington Beach to pay for a new car, legal fees, and iPod speakers she said were wrongfully taken during the investigation of her husband.
Mercuro's husband, Matthew Mercuro, was accused of embezzling $365,000 from Ryan Sheckler – a professional skater, X Games champion and MTV reality show star. On Jan. 11 – less than two months after his arrest – Mercuro took a plea deal and was convicted of two felony counts of grand theft. He spent 18 days in jail and is required to pay $150,000 he admitted taking.
Janelle Mercuro, 36, filed three claims against the city April 27 asking for about $15,890 total. The lost property and legal fees resulted from the investigation of her husband involving Huntington Beach police Officer Mark Garcia, the claims said. Mercuro was chief financial officer for several companies owned by Sheckler.
Lt. Russell Reinhart said the police are looking into Janelle Mercuro's claims.
"The claims are considerably different than what she has told us over the past few weeks so we will need to speak with her further to clarify," he wrote in an e-mail to the Register.
Garcia declined to comment on the claims.
Janelle Mercuro said her car was towed from private property in San Juan Capistrano to Huntington Beach in November and later sold, stripped, and abandoned. She did not learn that the car had been towed for 11 days.
She is asking for $7,140 for a new car, registration, costs of being without a car, and legal fees.
Mercuro is also asking for $8,400 in legal fees she accrued while trying to get back personal property including a computer taken during the police investigation.
She said she still has not received her iPod docking station speakers and is asking that the department reimburse her $500 or buy her new speakers. She alleges that the speakers were taken with a search warrant and given to Sheckler's father, Randy.
Randy Sheckler declined to comment about the claim.
Mercuro said she was anxious to put the issue behind her.
"I thought for many days about the thing I might say in this letter," she wrote in the claim. "This is what I have today – thank you for consideration of my losses."
Contact the writer: aburris@ocregister.com or 714-796-7922source:
OC Register
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