Taking a tasty bite out of crime

Dave Brooks

Who ever said crime doesn’t pay?

Thirty-six people were arrested in Huntington Beach last Thursday

and housed at a local brewery until friends and family could make

bail. Subsisting on soda and deep dish pizza, the prisoners’ dire

condition was a reminder of the crime that brought them to the big

house: They had all been accused of having a kind heart.

The Thursday charity event was really a fundraiser for Jerry’s

Kids and the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. The group’s Orange County

chapter organized the event, held at the BJ’s Restaurant and Brewery

on Beach Boulevard.

“The money we will raise today goes to funding research, purchases

of more wheelchairs and sending kids to the [Muscular Dystrophy

Assn.] summer camp in San Diego,” district director Angela Morgan

said. “Currently we serve about 200 children in the Orange County

area.”

Participants hoped to raise about $30,000 at the charity event.

Volunteers made their rounds through Huntington Beach in donated

Enterprise rental cars and “arrested” the three dozen business and

community leaders that agreed to participate.

After arriving at BJ’s, the “prisoners” were booked by several

waiting volunteers, then dressed in pinstripes and led to a makeshift

holding cell where they posed for a personalized “mug shot.” When

they were finished, they were taken to a special room in the back of

the restaurant and given cell phones donated by Cingular Wireless and

encouraged to call friends and ask them to donate money to the fight

the genetic disorder.

“It’s fun for people in the community because they to get meet

others and network,” said association client Linda Scott.

Computer engineer Cliff Shu said he agreed to participate because

he wanted to give back to the community.

“When I was in college at UC Riverside, my fraternity would do all

sorts of charity events, but when I graduated, I found it hard to

find an organization that would really let me give back,” he said.

“This is a way that I can do something for someone else.”

Shu brought his Palm Pilot to the event and began scrolling

through his contacts, calling friends new and old in hopes of raising

some money.

“It’s actually a good way to get back in touch with some people,”

he said.

Businessman Ed Laird had already raised his money before he

attended the event, but he said he attended because the event was

fun.

“It’s a cute and novel idea,” he said.

John Prusa also raised his funds in advance, sending out a photo

of himself behind bars to his friends and family.

“I work on a lot of different causes and I thought this would be

fun,” he said.

“It’s really a win-win situation,” said client Mike Wernet, who

estimates that he’s volunteered at 70 similar events throughout

Orange County. Wernet also has worked on seven telethons, six summer

camps and a host of other dystrophy related causes.

“I think it’s important to help the organization that helps me,”

he said.