Police Book Neighbor in Stabbing of Galanter

A 27-year-old Venice man sought for questioning in the brutal knife attack on Los Angeles City Council candidate Ruth Galanter was booked on suspicion of attempted murder Saturday, shortly after he walked into a police station to surrender, authorities reported.

Mark Allen Olds, accompanied by an unidentified Catholic priest, turned himself in at the Pacific Division station in West Los Angeles at 4:20 p.m. Officers immediately took him to Parker Center downtown, where he was interviewed by detectives, who subsequently booked him and jailed him without bail.

Lt. Ed Henderson, head of the Police Department’s major crimes section, declined to disclose what Olds told detectives.

Statewide Search

Police on Friday had launched a statewide search for Olds after uncovering evidence they said connected him to the attack on Wednesday. While authorities would not describe the evidence, police had been running several fingerprints found at the Galanter residence through the department’s fingerprint computer.

For the last two years, Olds has lived in a rooming house in the 2200 block of Louella Avenue, across from Galanter’s home. According to police, he is a former street gang member with an extensive record of arrests that include the murder of a rival gang member. Olds was acquitted by a jury of that charge.

The lawyer who represented him in the murder trial, James Epstein, said he had been asked by Olds on Saturday evening to represent him. But Epstein declined to comment further.

Olds’ twin brother, Michael, who rents a room in the same rooming house, said he had not spoken with his brother before or after his arrest, but still believes that he is innocent.

Still a Candidate

Olds’ surrender came hours after campaign aides assured a cheering throng of supporters that Galanter was still a candidate in the June 2 election against 6th Council District incumbent Pat Russell. Galanter led a field of five challengers who kept Russell from winning a majority in the April 14 primary.

Galanter is also very angry about what happened to her, her supporters were told.

“I’m mad as hell,” Marshall Grossman, a close friend who is doing legal work for the Galanter campaign, quoted the candidate as saying from her hospital bed.

Galanter, an urban planner, underwent five hours of surgery for knife wounds to her neck. But her condition since then has improved steadily, and her doctors say they are optimistic about a full recovery. After Olds’ arrest, uniformed guards posted outside Galanter’s room at UCLA Medical Center were removed, police said.

Galanter’s press secretary, Jim Bickhart, said he would not notify Galanter of the arrest. “We’ll let the police tell her about it,” he said.

Resumption of Campaign

The formal resumption of Galanter’s campaign Saturday came at a gathering of about 100 of her supporters at the opening of a new campaign office in the Crenshaw area. With the new office, the Galanter forces are trying to establish their first beachhead in the part of the district where Russell has received her strongest support.

(In deference to Galanter, Russell suspended her campaign after the attack, but a spokesman said Saturday that the campaign would be back in full swing by Monday.)

Galanter campaign manager Marcela Howell said that Galanter, 46, a political novice who rose to prominence as a leader of anti-growth forces, wants her campaign to stick to its original themes.

“Keep the focus on the quality of neighborhoods,” said Howell, reading a two-page statement that she attributed to Galanter. “The issues of development, jobs, the environment and neighborhood safety are the issues of this movement.”

Also on Saturday, Grossman reacted negatively to an announcement Friday by Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) that he might form a committee to work on Galanter’s behalf.

“Before the attack on her, Ruth had requested that Tom Hayden play no role in the campaign,” Grossman said.

Hayden’s radical opposition to the Vietnam War is still a sore subject in some areas and Galanter, Grossman said, thinks that Hayden’s presence in the campaign “could be divisive.”

Times staff writers Lois Timnick and Alan C. Miller contributed to this story.