Santa Barbara County still seeking extradition after actor Randy Quaid, wife freed from jail

Actor Randy Quaid and his wife were freed Thursday from custody in Vermont after a judge dismissed charges alleging they were fugitives from justice in California.

Quaid and his wife, Evi Quaid, are wanted in California on allegations of trespassing and vandalism. They were arrested Friday after crossing the Canadian border into Vermont. The Quaids were held on $500,000 bail on the fugitive charge.

But Judge Alison Arms dismissed the charges. After initially reducing the couple’s bail to $50,000, Arms determined there was no legal basis to keep the Quaids in custody.

Outside the Vermont courthouse, the “Independence Day” actor told reporters the couple planned to stay in Vermont. Randy Quaid said he also wanted to join a local fire department, the Burlington Free Press reported.

But the ruling has not deterred the Santa Barbara County district attorney office, which later released a statement, from seeking extradition.

The district attorney’s office alleges the Quaids damaged and squatted in the guesthouse on a property they once owned. Prosecutors say the couple never showed up to their arraignment hearings in 2010 and a warrant was issued.

The Quaids fled the U.S. in 2010 because they feared they were being hunted by “Hollywood star-whackers,” describing them as a group of business people behind the death of Oscar-winning actor Heath Ledger and other celebrities.

On top of the other allegations leveled at the couple, Evi Quaid also faces a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said.

Prosecutors have begun the extradition process. After the application is submitted, Gov. Jerry Brown must sign off on it, Senior Dist. Atty. Lee Carter said.

The process takes 60 to 90 days.

Meanwhile, Santa Barbara County’s warrant, issued in 2010, remains active in all other states.

“Should the Quaids leave Vermont and enter another state, we expect they will be arrested on the Santa Barbara County warrant,” the district attorney’s office said. “Even as we seek the Governor’s warrant, we remain hopeful that Randall Rudy Quaid and Evi Hellena Quaid will return to Santa Barbara to face the aforementioned charges.”

The couple requested Canadian asylum in 2010. But Quaid, who is actor Dennis Quaid’s brother, was turned down for citizenship due to the outstanding charges in Santa Barbara County. His wife was granted citizenship because her father was born in Canada, the CBC reported.

Randy Quaid has also starred in the movies “Kingpin” and “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” as well as “Brokeback Mountain.”

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