Category Archives: Steve Lehto, the Car Lawyer

By Michael G. Stogner

The title sounds like the beginning of a Joke doesn’t it. It’s not. San Mateo County Gang activity has a light shining on it like never before. More than 5 Million Views and over 20,000 comments in just 2 weeks time. Many of the comments want Sheriff Carlos G. Bolanos and District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe to resign. They are calling for criminal charges against the Sheriff, and forfeiture of his pension.

How many San Mateo County Elected Officials think Sheriff Carlos G. Bolanos and District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe should resign? “Therein lies the problem” 

Some of you might recall that I personally asked Sheriff Greg Munks and UnderSheriff Carlos G. Bolanos to resign for their behavior on April 21, 2007. They didn’t and not one San Mateo County Elected Official made the same request after the April 21, 2007 activity.

The Batmobile Case

Comment: The Almanac

Posted by Jake Leone
a resident of Menlo Park: other
on Aug 18, 2022 at 12:57 pm
Jake Leone is a registered user.
Anagnostou knew this was a civil case the DA told him this the first time he filed a criminal complaint. In California, if you file a false police report, you can get 6 months in jail, a hefty fine, and have to pay restitution to the county, for all expenses, official hours, and any damages as a result of your crime. Knowing the case was strictly civil, Mr. Anagnostou filed a 2nd complaint using with untruthful information, that may well constitute a crime in California, Wagstaffe should be investigating this and issue a public warning/citation to all relevant parties.
Anagnostou should at least be cited in this case. The reason is that Mr. Racop could file a massive lawsuit against San Mateo county. That lawsuit would continue to cost county taxpayers a lot of money, possibly millions fighting it and settling it. If Anagnostou is properly cited as having violated California law, San Mateo could deflect some of the cost of the lawsuit and any settlement to Anagnostou.
Obviously, it might “Feel” like getting ripped off. But Mr. Anagnostou was not ripped off. This was all part of the agreement that he signed. He failed to make payments, then demanded the car be delivered, he used the Sheriff’s department as an enforcer. Anagnostou used the Sheriff’s department to extort and defraud Mr. Racop.
The optics are not the problem. We see the problem clearly because it has exposed serious flaws in San Mateo country law enforcement community that need to be rectified. We can’t let our police be weaponized to become extra-judicial enforcers in what was then known to all parties to be nothing but a civil dispute. That Mr. Anagnostou was free to pursue in the civil courts.
As far as we can tell, the car was under production, and probably would have been delivered by now except for the criminal complaints and lawsuits by Mr. Anagnostou, as Mr. Racop was unsure whether to proceed with the build or if a court was going to order that he cancel the job and pay back Mr. Anagnostou.

Comment from PADP August 20, 2022

Jake_Leone says: AUGUST 20, 2022 9:06 AM AT 9:06 AM Mr. Racop was following the terms of the contract signed by Mr. Anagnostou. Mr. Anagnostou failed to fully pay for the car, but then demanded that Mr. Racop either return the money or the car. Mr. Racop was under no obligation, at that point, to do either, as the money had already been committed. Mr. Anagnostou complained to the DA, and the DA said it was civil case. Mr. Anagnostou then filed a civil case, and was obliged to follow that civil case up in the appropriate court system, in Indiana. Mr Anagnostou became impatient (though the car was halfway done, per the contract). And asked his friend, Sheriff Bolanos, to go and Intimidate Mr. Racop. The Sheriff then rammed an affidavit through the DA’s office.
Mr. Anagnostou knew this was an unfinished civil case, he didn’t want to deal with the civil courts, so he weaponized the police and used them as a way to extort Mr. Racop. In California, if you file a false police report, the penalty is 6 months in jail, a hefty fine, and restitution to the government for costs incurred.
Why is no one talking about the case this way? Because the DA and Sheriff are all friends and friends with Mr. Anagnostou. The Board of Supervisors is playing a dangerous game, clearly the law has been broken, not by Mr. Racop but by Mr. Anagnostou and our County Sheriff. This opens up the possibility that San Mateo county could face a big civil torte suite from Mr. Racop, over the weaponizing of Sheriff’s department, to extort money and property from Mr. Racop, and by endangering Mr. Racop’s health from the horrid stress of this incident.
The DA should promptly dismiss this case. Issue a citation to Mr. Anagnostou. And deflect any lawsuits, using that citation, as this could be considered the result of a crime by Mr. Anagnostou.
Keep in mind, nothing is moving until Mr. Racop knows whether the civil court will direct him to pay back Mr. Anagnostou, or to finish the car, or give the car to Mr. Anagnostou as-is. And that has been the case for more than a year now. So the best way to resolve this is to either settle this out of court or be patient and let Mr. Racop finish this build.

San Mateo County Residents and Taxpayers should be asking the FIVE Supervisors why NONE of them are thinking like Jake Leone.

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