EX-BASE FOREMAN JAILED; 1-YEAR TERM ORDERED FOR EQUIPMENT THEFTS.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

A former civilian foreman at Edwards Air Force Base was sentenced Friday to a year in jail for stealing about $250,000 worth of tools and other equipment from the base.

Edward Barr, 49, of Lancaster, who earlier pleaded no contest to a charge of receiving stolen property, also was placed on five years' probation.

``Our impression was he was selling (equipment) at swap meets and making money,'' said Deputy District Attorney John Evans. ``Obviously, he needed more money than he was making at his job.''

Officials said they recovered hand tools, heavy-duty tools, drill presses and power from Barr's home and a rented storage unit in Quartz Hill.

A 25-year base employee, Barr went on disability leave in October from his job as a welding and sheet metal shop foreman after he fell down a spiral staircase and injured himself, court records show. Barr has since retired, Edwards officials said.

In a letter that is in the court file, Barr admitted to stealing from the base but claimed the case was blown out of proportion.

``This charge that I stole this great amount of equipment has been magnified a hundred times,'' Barr wrote. ``The police confiscated from me tools presented to me in the eighth and ninth grades for having the highest class average in industrial arts.

``I have, in the last three or four years, stolen some things, most of which (were) destined for the trash or salvage, or on occasion taken something that a peer had given to me - i.e., a paint brush. I honestly don't know why I ever took anything at all.''

Barr faced up to two years in prison when he entered his plea in May after prosecutors agreed to dismiss additional charges of grand theft and possession of morphine.

The court ordered Barr to undergo a three-month evaluation, and the resulting report recommended that Barr be given probation, officials said.

If Barr had been convicted of all the original charges, he would have faced a maximum of five years in prison, Evans said. Evans said Barr's age, absence of criminal history and health problems were taken into consideration.

``We would have preferred a prison sentence. That was the disposition. The court chose to give him a probationary sentence,'' Evans said.

According to the probation officer's report, Barr had a monthly income of about $2,600, mainly in disability-leave payments, records show.

Barr told the probation officer that disability retirement would drop the income to about $1,200 a month, records show.

Prosecutors and base officials said they did not know if Barr will continue to receive disability payments.

Barr was arrested Feb. 20 along with his son, Geoffrey, 22, after investigators searched their home in the 2300 block of West Avenue K-10 and found the stolen items, officials said.

In June, the younger Barr was sentenced to prison for eight years and four months for tossing a flash-bang grenade through the rear door of a gay bar in Lancaster.

Sheriff's deputies said that when the younger Barr threw the explosive last October, he made a derogatory remark about sexual orientation.

The explosion blew the covers off the building's recessed ceiling lights and knocked displays from cases. The blast singed one patron's ankle and melted his sock, prosecutors said.