Flint

The People appeal from an order of the superior court dismissing an information charging defendant, Michael William Flint, with grand theft auto (Pen. Code, § 487, subd. 3) and felony joy riding (Veh. Code, § 10851). The dismissal was based on the prohibition against multiple prosecution contained in section 654 of the Penal Code.

Facts

At about 2 a.m. on Friday morning, May 17, 1974, Ronald Wilson parked his 1969 Corvette in the parking lot of his apartment complex at 3640 South Sepulveda Boulevard in Los Angeles. He apparently did not use the car on Friday; when he went to get his car on Saturday morning, it was not there. The police were then notified that the car had been stolen.

Meantime, at about 2:20 a.m., early Friday morning, a California Highway Patrol officer observed defendant sitting in the Corvette, which was straddling railroad tracks “like it had been driven down the rails” near the Robertson off-ramp of the Santa Monica Freeway. Smoke was coming from under the car. Defendant stated that he had borrowed the car from a friend; a vehicle check did not reveal any “wants.” After doing poorly in field sobriety tests, defendant was arrested on suspicion of…