Crime & Safety

Rescuers Can't Recover Costs from Lost Hikers, Judge Rules

While one of the two hikers rescued from Trabuco Canyon following an intense search effort pleads guilty to drug possession, a judge rules against the OC Fire Authority in its bid for restitution.

An Orange County judge today rejected an effort by fire officials to recover thousands of dollars in costs incurred during the search for a pair of lost Trabuco Canyon hikers, one of whom was later charged with possession of methamphetamine.

Teenage hiker Nicholas Cendoya pleaded guilty Friday to possession of methamphetamine He will be allowed to enter a drug-treatment program, and if he successfully completes it, the conviction will be cleared from his record.

According to prosecutors, police found 497 milligrams of methamphetamine, in the car that he drove up to the mountain before getting lost Easter Sunday night with his friend, Kyndall Jack.

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Orange County Fire Authority officials filed court papers last month asking that Cendoya pay $55,000 in restitution to cover part of the agency's costs during the extensive search, using a statute known as Marsy's Law.

Nick Papageorge's, a 20-year-old volunteer who helped in the search, also applied under Marsy's Law for financial compensation to cover his back surgery and a weeklong hospital stay that he said cost about $350,000. Papageorge's had titanium screws put in his back after he fell about 110 feet from a cliff during the search.

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But Orange County Superior Court Judge Gerald Johnston rejected those claims, saying there was no legal basis to force Cendoya to pay for the search costs. He noted that Cendoya was only charged with possession of methamphetamine, and there were no allegations that he was under the influence of the drug when he and Jack got lost in the canyon, prompting the search.

- City News Service


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