LAPD Officer Corroborates Perez on Beating
March 14, 2000 In a significant breakthrough in the Rampart corruption investigation, a Los Angeles police officer implicated in the scandal has corroborated testimony from former Officer Rafael Perez about an alleged beating by police in 1998, sources close to the criminal probe
said.
The development is considered good news by prosecutors and
detectives who have been searching for witnesses to substantiate the allegations of Perez,
an admitted perjurer, who has testified that a band of Rampart officers planted evidence
to arrest innocent people, beat suspects, covered up unjustified shootings and perjured
themselves, among other abuses.
Complicating matters, however, is the fact that the officer
who is providing corroborating information also contradicts Perez on some points, saying
the disgraced officer had a larger role in the beating than he has acknowledged to
investigators, sources said.
The officer, whose name is being withheld by The Times to
protect his identity, came forward with the information about three weeks ago. At the
time, sources said, he was under scrutiny by internal affairs investigators for unrelated
misconduct growing out of the Rampart investigation.
A source familiar with the corruption probe said at least
one other officer has come forward with information, but details of what that officer has
told authorities were not available.
Another officer, who is not cooperating with authorities,
told The Times in January that he, too, could corroborate much of what Perez has testified
to. That officer has not spoken to investigators, fearing that he would be fired for not
disclosing what he knew at an earlier time.
For prosecutors and detectives on the corruption task force,
such corroborating testimony significantly bolsters the chance that criminal charges could
be filed against corrupt officers.
Police Department spokesman Cmdr. David J. Kalish declined
to discuss the LAPD's ongoing investigation or to confirm whether officers have come
forward to substantiate Perez.
"We strongly encourage any officer who has any information
about crimes and misconduct to come forward," Kalish said. "Let there be no doubt: The
department will get to the bottom of the corruption, and it would be in an officer's best
interest to come forward sooner rather than later."
Perez, who pleaded guilty in September to stealing 8 pounds
of cocaine from LAPD evidence facilities, was sentenced last month to five years in prison
as part of a plea deal in which he agreed to help root out corruption in the
department.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Perez could be
charged with perjury if he is found to have lied in his testimony.
Perez's lawyer, Winston Kevin McKesson, said Perez has been
"truthful and forthright" throughout the investigation.
"He has had every incentive to state his involvement totally
and accurately," McKesson said. "He would have had no incentive to cover anything
up."
The incident in question is the alleged beating of suspected
gang member Gabriel Aguirre on Mar. 24, 1998, sources said. According to transcripts of
Perez's interviews with investigators, obtained by The Times, Perez and other officers
were searching for Aguirre, who was wanted for assault with a deadly weapon, when they
found him sleeping in an abandoned apartment.
"We kick the door down to the apartment. When we get inside,
Mr. Aguirre is laying asleep on the floor," Perez told investigators.
Perez said two officers jumped on Aguirre and began to beat
him, one kneeing the suspect in the back "at least 20 times," the other striking him
repeatedly with a metal flashlight.
One investigator asked Perez is the suspect had attempted to
run from officers, prompting the attack.
"This guy didn't run," Perez said. "This guy was
asleep--legitimately asleep."
Perez told investigators that the first two officers weren't
the only ones who hit Aguirre.
"We knew a complaint was gonna come down from this," Perez
explained. "We started discussing about how we're gonna, uh, justify, explain all this,"
he said.
As the officers spoke, Aguirre could hear them and said,
"Oh, yeah. Now, you guys are gonna cover it up," Perez recalled.
"I went over there and pushed him up against the wall,"
Perez admitted to investigators. " . . . an abrasion occurred where a little blood
trickled down."
When a sergeant arrived, Perez said, he and the other
officers told him two stories.
"At first, we told him how it actually happened, how this
guy was beat down," Perez said. "And then, uh, we told him how we were gonna explain
it."
Perez said the sergeant, who has since been relieved of duty
in connection with the scandal, then directed officers to pour beer on a nearby fire
escape to help support their tale that Aguirre obtained some of his injuries when he
slipped and fell during a chase.
"He helped in the covering up," Perez said. "He's one of the
supervisors that you do not tell him a bologna story, you know, that you're trying to
create to cover it up," Perez said. "You tell him the truth, how you thumped this guy or
whatever happened. And then, he'll agree with you, or not agree with you, on how to cover
it up. And if he doesn't agree with what you're saying, he'll help you."
