New Brush With Law for Son of O.C. Official

An Orange County assistant sheriff’s son who is free on bail on gang-rape charges was arrested Monday evening on suspicion of trespassing, the second time in four months that Gregory Haidl has had a brush with sheriff’s deputies while awaiting trial.

Sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said Haidl, 18, was one of 13 people arrested for alleged trespassing at a boarded-up restaurant; they were all issued misdemeanor citations and released. Amormino said the 13 -- nine adults and four juveniles -- were inside the shut-down restaurant in Laguna Niguel.

In October, Haidl, of Rancho Cucamonga, was driven home in a sheriff’s cruiser after a deputy found a small bag of marijuana in a car used by Haidl and two other teens. None of the teens was cited for possession of marijuana, a potential felony, even though a deputy said the marijuana belonged to Haidl.

Had Haidl been cited then, his $100,000 bail on the rape charges would have been revoked and he probably would have been jailed. The incident led to an Orange County Grand Jury investigation to determine whether deputies covered up the drug find and whether Haidl received favorable treatment. His father is Assistant Orange County Sheriff Donald Haidl.

A district attorney’s official told City News Service that prosecutors would investigate whether Haidl got favorable treatment and whether his latest brush with the law justified revocation of his bail.