The dividing line between felony and misdemeanor prosecutions is the cost of repairing the damage. Four hundred bucks makes it a “wobbler”, which could be either a misdemeanor or felony prosecution. As a practical matter, felonies aren’t filed until considerably above that level. Remember, a felony involves a prison sentence. This is much more a “repair costs plus ten days picking up trash” offense. City attorney should handle it.
It’s also worth noting that if the situations were reversed, the Torrance city attorney would be getting a lot of Astroturfed pressure to prosecute.