Dropping Charges for Vandalism in California

My question involves criminal law for the state of: California

A friend of mine has been wrongly charged with misdemeanor vandalism for destroying property at a nightclub. He has not yet been arraigned. That will happen in a few days. I have spoken to the nightclub owner and he has offered to drop all charges if restitution of $500 was made. Though innocent my friend is willing to pay the $500 in order to avoid further charges for attorneys to represent him and the risk of being convicted for something he did not do. He has already served three days in jail waiting before being bailed out. His case was originally classed as a felony and changed to a misdemeanor. It was also moved to the Community Court.

I have several questions. Will the district attorney allow the charges to be dropped at the request of the nightclub owner or would they insist of proceeding with the case? If they did proceed would the costs of damage be reduced to reflect the payment/restitution already made to the club owner?
What kind of record will be retained? Will my friend need to have the arrest expunged if the charges are allowed to be dropped? Are there any other issues we should be concerned about?

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Will the district attorney allow the charges to be dropped at the request of the nightclub owner or would they insist of proceeding with the case?

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We cannot predict what the DA will do, but I would guess that the DA would be unlikely to waste time prosecuting the case if the plaintiff no longer wishes to proceed.

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Will my friend need to have the arrest expunged if the charges are allowed to be dropped?

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Yes.

Many, many thanks for taking the time to help by providing this useful information.
All the best to you, LawResearcherMissy.