Corrupt LA police officers charged with robbery

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.