Corrupt LA police officers charged with roberry
Posted on: Thursday, 2 March 2006, 19:47 CST
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nineteen people, many of them former police officers or with police connections, have been charged with staging home robberies in Southern California to steal drugs, money and weapons, prosecutors said on Thursday.
The defendants are charged with committing more than 20 robberies and burglaries between 1999 and 2001 while posing as police officers, arriving in squad cars and wearing Los Angeles Police Department badges.
They handcuffed, threatened and assaulted their victims and in one case hit a man with a stun gun, prosecutors said. When the raids did not yield the anticipated drugs, prosecutors said, they stole any items of value, sold them and split the profits.
The Los Angeles U.S. Attorney's office said six defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury this week and the other 13 have been charged over the past 18 months with civil rights, narcotics and weapons violations.
The leader of the group was named as former LAPD officer Ruben Palomares, who was arrested with another member of the gang in San Diego in 2001 on cocaine trafficking charges.
Six other defendants were police officers in Los Angeles and Long Beach, and several others had received police training. All the officers have already been fired or had been suspended.
"The reality is, no police department is immune from bad cops," said LAPD Chief William Bratton. "No good cop wants to work with a bad cop ... Today's announcement proves we are committed to getting rid of those who would tarnish the LAPD badge."
According to the indictments, the robbery crew stole 600 pounds (270 kg) of marijuana in one burglary and in another nabbed television sets from a truck in suburban Los Angeles. In one case, two men dressed as police officers robbed a man outside a store of $45,000 worth of pseudoephedrine pills which are used to make methamphetamines, prosecutors say.
"The depth of corruption and audacity among these law enforcement officers is nothing less than stunning," U.S. Attorney Debra Yang said.
Source: REUTERS
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