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Case Against Ex-Candidate Is Dismissed

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A Municipal Court judge has dismissed charges against former City Council candidate Frank J. Arcuri, who had been accused of disturbing a public meeting, resisting arrest and battery on a police officer.

Alhambra Municipal Court Judge Michael Kanner said he dismissed the charges because of insufficient evidence.

Arcuri was arrested on Feb. 8 after Monterey Park Mayor Christopher F. Houseman ordered the sergeant-at-arms to escort Arcuri out of a City Council meeting.

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The arrest occurred after Houseman had banned the use of camera flashes during council meetings. Arcuri, a professional photographer who publishes a monthly newsletter, had brought his camera with a flash attachment to the meeting.

As the mayor made his announcement, there were several flashes from a camera. “I was disconnecting a flash at the time,” Arcuri said in an interview last week. “Maybe it went off.”

Police had said Arcuri refused to peacefully leave the council meeting and bit a policeman during a scuffle. Arcuri denied all the charges and said police knocked his camera to the floor.

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“(The arrest) frightened people away from openly supporting me in the last election and this was deliberate. They were trying to discredit me,” Arcuri said in the interview.

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