Huntington Beach Man Held on Florida Charges

FBI agents on Friday arrested a Huntington Beach man wanted in Florida on charges of grand theft auto, strong-arm robbery and writing bad checks, authorities said.

Randall Arthur Leighton, 29, surrendered to agents who went to his Stanley Walk home, said Charlie J. Parson, special agent in charge in Los Angeles. Leighton was arrested on a felony charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, authorities said.

After an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald W. Rose in Santa Ana, the FBI released Leighton to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, FBI spokesman Gary Morley said.

Leighton will be extradited to Brevard County, Florida, where authorities issued a federal warrant for his arrest March 19, Morley said.

FBI investigators had been looking for Leighton since March, when Florida authorities suspected he had fled to California, Morley said.

Brevard County authorities originally issued a bench warrant for Leighton after he failed to appear for trial in Orlando, Fla., in January, 1991. At the time he was charged with seven counts of writing bad checks, one count of grand theft auto and one count of strong-arm robbery.

Morley said agents did not know how long Leighton had been in Orange County or what he was doing here. Leighton was being held in Orange County Jail in Santa Ana in lieu of $50,000 bail.