Charley Charles Rothenberg
Bocca. (Inset: SFPD)
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Neighbors in the
area of Bush and Leavenworth were surprised to discover that a notorious
criminal was living in their midst when Charley
Charles, a resident of the Empire Court
apartments, was arrested here for arson, burglary, weapons charges, and
other offenses in June, 2001. Seems that Charley, who worked as a handyman
at the building and as a waiter at the International House of Pancakes on
Lombard, was none other than Charles Rothenberg, the infamous Orange County
arsonist who doused his six-year-old son with kerosene and set him on fire
during a custody dispute with his wife in 1983. Rothenberg served about
seven years of a 13-year sentence for the attempted murder
of his son, David, who survived the attack. Also known as Charles Bocca,
Rothenberg was paroled to Oakland and was later acquitted of attempted murder
in the 1996 shooting of an acquaintance at a Travelodge there. The arsonist
faces a possible sentence of 25 years to life for the new charges which
stem from a 5 a.m. fire in a neighbor's Empire Court apartment
and the stalking of another resident, in addition to the weapons charges
and other crimes. Mister SF notes
that the arrest of Rothenberg in this neighborhood is somewhat ironic considering
that arson fires were not uncommon in this District in the years prior to
Rothenberg's move here from Oakland. Perhaps the reviled dad was attracted
to Bush Street like a moth to a flame. Rothenberg is portrayed by John Glover
in the 1988 TV movie "David," also starring Bernadette Peters and Matthew
Lawrence.
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