From today's LA Times alone. "To Protect and to Serve" exactly whom?
Page B4: Officer accused of sexual assault
A former Bell police officer was arrested by FBI agents Thursday morning after being indicted on civil rights charges for allegedly forcing a woman to have sex with him while he was on duty.
Feliciano Sanchez, 33, of Pico Rivera is accused of sexually assaulting the woman following a traffic stop last year, according to the indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
After pulling the woman over, Sanchez allegedly drove her to a remote area where he forced her to engage in a sex act, according to the court documents.
Sanchez worked for the Bell Police Department for 3 1/2 years before being fired in September, according to the U.S. attorney's office. He is charged with deprivation of rights under color of law and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence.
If convicted of the civil rights charge, he faces a potential life sentence, federal prosecutors said.
By Stuart Pfeifer and Christine Hanley, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers May 30, 2008
Former Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona talked to a former top assistant about "cleansing" the department's reserve-deputy files of information he did not want federal prosecutors to find, the government alleges in a court filing Thursday.
The filing came in response to U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford's request that prosecutors provide more specific details about one of the witness-tampering charges in Carona's upcoming corruption trial….
Page B7: Off-duty LAPD officer accused of restaurant tirade
The 10-year department veteran is accused of pulling a knife and then a gun and threatening patrons in Redondo Beach in March.
By Joel Rubin, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 1:32 PM PDT, May 29, 2008
A Los Angeles police officer was expected to surrender to authorities today on charges that he pulled a gun and threatened patrons during an off-duty tirade at a restaurant, the district attorney's office said.
David Woon Chong, 38, allegedly got into a verbal confrontation and then pulled a knife on two other customers at an eatery on the Redondo Beach pier in March.
When an onlooker intervened, Chong is said to have walked away but then returned a short time later. According to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, Chong kicked food out of a man's hands, then brandished a semiautomatic handgun and pointed it at the man's head. The onlooker once again stepped in and escorted Chong, a 10-year LAPD veteran, out of the restaurant, officials said.
Redondo Beach police stopped Chong in his car and arrested him. He allegedly had a 0.11 blood-alcohol level at the time of his arrest, over the legal limit.
Chong is expected to be arraigned this afternoon at Los Angeles County Superior Court.
If convicted of the expected charges, he faces up to 19 years in state prison.
