Keying could be third strike

A Huntington Beach man could face 25 years to life in prison for allegedly keying a neighbor’s car if an Orange County Superior Court judge decides to count it as his third strike, officials said.

John Patrick Rogers, 45, is expected to be charged with felony vandalism for causing more than $400 in damage, which could be his third strike under the state’s Three Strikes Law.

Rogers has two previous strikes for 2002 convictions for assault with a deadly weapon, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Robin Park.

Rogers was arrested Oct. 18 by the Huntington Beach Police Department for keying and denting his neighbor’s vehicle, said Lt. Russell Reinhart.

The maximum sentence for the felony charge is two to three years with no previous strikes, Park said.

Rogers has other prior convictions and restraining orders against him.

“We’ve arrested him, I don’t know how many times,” Reinhart said.

He is also charged with contempt of court for disobeying court orders for a separate incident and has prior convictions for misdemeanor lewd conduct in public and misdemeanor reckless driving from March 2003 to May 2004.

Rogers was released from custody days after being arrested and has been out on his own recognizance, but was taken back into custody Friday, Reinhart said.

He is being held on more than $1-million bail.

“We felt that the public was safer with him in custody,” Park said.

He is being held in the Central Jail Complex in Santa Ana and is expected to go back to court for a preliminary hearing at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in Courtroom W14 at the West Justice Center in Westminster.