Transient, 19, Arrested in Threats on Michael Landon’s Son

A 19-year-old transient pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he made threatening telephone calls to the 16-year-old son of the late actor Michael Landon.

Christopher James Taylor entered the plea in Beverly Hills Municipal Court to charges of terrorism and stalking Christopher Landon, as well as other unrelated charges involving the illicit use of credit cards and falsely reporting an emergency.

Beverly Hills police investigators said Taylor was arrested Wednesday in a Robertson Boulevard building near the Beverly Hills-Los Angeles boundary where he apparently stowed some of his clothing.

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, said detectives arrested Taylor after Landon told authorities that the transient threatened to kill him in a phone call on Oct. 28, saying he knew where the boy went to school and what time classes ended.

“I’m going to get you,” the boy quoted the transient as saying. “I’m going to kill you.”

The call was the culmination of a stream of phone calls Taylor made to the actor’s son during the summer, Gibbons said.

Taylor, who occasionally worked as a model, apparently obtained the boy’s telephone number from a file at a Hollywood modeling agency where he worked briefly, Gibbons said.

“Then, he began calling, saying ‘I want to meet you, I want to see you,’ ” the spokeswoman said.

She emphasized that the actor’s son never met with Taylor.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Vezzani said at Taylor’s arraignment before Judge Judith Stein that Taylor also was charged with three unrelated felony counts involving the fraudulent use of credit cards.

Taylor also faces a misdemeanor charge of falsely reporting an emergency to 911 operators, Vezzani said.

The prosecutor said Taylor was being sought by Santa Monica authorities for violating probation on a charge involving fraudulent use of credit cards.

Taylor, who was being held in lieu of $50,000 bond, was ordered to appear Dec. 4 in Beverly Hills Municipal Court to schedule a preliminary hearing, Vezzani said.

Michael Landon died July 1 of cancer.