Witness Labels Police Dept. Permissive

A former deputy chief with the Los Angeles Police Department testified this week that Torrance police officers routinely received little or no punishment for acts of misconduct linked to drinking.

Permissiveness by Torrance Police Department administrators created an atmosphere in which alcohol abuse was condoned, former LAPD official Lou Reiter said Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, where the Torrance department and nine of its officers are on trial in a lawsuit that accuses them of routinely whitewashing police abuses.

“The management was simply shutting its eyes to this thing, (thinking) maybe it would go away,” said Reiter, who retired from the LAPD in 1981 to become a private consultant.

The lawsuit was prompted by a fatal 1984 traffic accident involving an off-duty Torrance police officer. Kelly Rastello, 19, of San Pedro, died after his motorcycle collided with a pickup truck driven by Torrance police Sgt. Rollo Green. The suit, filed by Rastello’s father, John, claims Green caused the accident because he made an illegal left-hand turn while driving drunk and that fellow officers concealed his guilt as part of a pattern of covering up wrongdoing by police.

Rastello’s attorneys prepared to wrap up their case next week, presenting Reiter as their key witness in an attempt to prove that Torrance police routinely whitewash internal investigations. They also called a man who said he was the victim of racial slurs and an assault by a Torrance officer. Wednesday’s testimony ended with Green returning to the stand and saying that he stands by an earlier remark that the case against him is “a pack of lies.”

Reviewed 75 to 80 Acts

Reiter testified that he had reviewed 75 to 80 acts of alleged misconduct by Torrance police as a consultant hired by the plaintiffs and that he found that officers usually escaped with minor punishments for serious misconduct. Reiter said the handling of Green’s case and others sent officers “the message that we are going to treat you differently and if possible make sure that sanctions are not brought against you.”

Police Department brass “ratified” the alcohol abuses by not thoroughly investigating and punishing officers, he testified. And the department did not adopt a program to deal with alcohol problems until 1986, putting it far behind most police departments, Reiter testified.

The former LAPD official’s testimony focused on 11 incidents in which he said officers committed acts of misconduct while they were drunk.

Reiter said the cases were similar in that they were not investigated diligently unless a citizen pushed for a full review and that, in all but one of the 11 cases, blood-alcohol tests were not given. Minor punishments such as written reprimands, counseling and short suspensions were meted out when charges were sustained, Reiter said.

Casey Yim, the lead defense attorney for the city, said during cross-examination that Reiter’s opinions on the discipline were not surprising because police administrators often disagree on how officers should be punished.

Under questioning by Yim, Reiter conceded that Torrance officers might have received lighter punishments in some cases because of past good work or other mitigating factors. Yim pointed out that in each of the cases Reiter cited, Torrance police conducted some form of investigation and usually meted out punishment.

Reiter gave the following accounts:

*In 1980, Officer Tom Jarvis was suspended for one day without pay after a barroom altercation with a Hermosa Beach policeman and others. Yim said the suspension was actually two days and that an investigation showed that Jarvis had a blood alcohol level of .12.

*In 1981, Officer Dean Dunson was the target of a complaint by another Torrance officer, who said his wife had been sexually assaulted by Dunson. Yim said the case was difficult to pursue because the victim did not want to file criminal charges. Dunson was ordered suspended for three days or, as an alternative, to undergo an alcohol treatment program, Yim said.

*In 1982, Donald Mason brandished a gun in a barroom incident and then put the gun to his own head and mouth. Mason was driven back to the police station but was not arrested. Yim said supervisors interviewed nine witnesses, reported on Mason’s alcohol abuse and meted out a 15-day suspension or, as an alternative, entry into an alcohol recovery program.

*In 1984, Mason, who Reiter said had a “checkered past” with several incidents of alcohol abuse, collided with three parked cars as he was driving home. Officer Dale Robbins failed to note in his report that Mason had been drinking even though he later admitted that he smelled alcohol on his co-worker’s breath, Reiter testified. Yim countered that several other witnesses said that Mason did not appear to be under the influence. What punishment Mason received, if any, was not described.

*In 1984, Officer Geoff Rizzo became upset when someone backed into his car in front of a bar. Reiter said Rizzo attacked the driver of the other car and that the off-duty officer was eventually charged with battery, malicious mischief and disturbing the peace. Yim said the other charges were dropped after Rizzo pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace and paid restitution to the victim. Rizzo was suspended from work for one day.

*In 1987, Officer Pete Velis was assigned to stake out liquor stores suspected of selling alcohol to minors. During the operation, Velis drank beer and appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, a supervisor later said. Reiter said that at one of the stores, Velis got into a “shouting and shoving match” with an unidentified man and was driven home “without a proper investigation.” Yim said Velis’ punishment was proper--he was asked to choose between a five-day suspension or a program in which he would be required to remain sober and under the supervision of a psychologist.

Racial Slurs Alleged

Reiter’s appearance was followed on Wednesday morning by the testimony of Erick Miller, a 23-year-old from Norwalk who said he was insulted with racial slurs and then assaulted by a Torrance policeman last year.

Miller, who is black, said the incident began when he and a white woman argued briefly about who had the right of way in the parking lot of a Torrance shopping center.

He testified that he was eating in his car near a fast food restaurant a few minutes later when a Torrance policeman, later identified as Joe Simpson, pulled him out of his car and held him against the hood.

The woman from the parking lot was nearby and told the officer that Miller had tried to run her over, the 23-year-old from Norwalk testified.

Simpson then said, “You don’t talk to a white woman like that in Torrance,” Miller testified. The officer then used a racial slur and slammed him against the side of a building, then kneed him in the groin, Miller said.

“He said he never wanted to see me in Torrance again or he would kill me,” Miller testified.

Miller said he went to the police station five days later to report the incident, but the watch commander on duty that night would not give him the name of the officer involved.

Partner Heard Slur

Yim said that a woman at the scene of the incident did not hear any racial slurs. The defense attorney said it was not until several months later that an intensive review of the incident was launched, after Simpson’s partner told a sergeant that he had heard Simpson use the racial slur.

Reiter had testified earlier that he considered the discipline of Simpson inadequate because it cited him only for failing to report the incident and failing to report the use of his handcuffs and not for the racial slur or the misleading statements he gave about the incident.

Simpson and his partner received reprimands, Reiter testified.

Sgt. Green, who has been pulled off the stand four times in favor of other witnesses, acknowledged Wednesday that he drank two whiskeys and two beers in the seven hours before the fatal accident.

Green testified that his left-hand turn from Rolling Hills Road onto Whiffletree Lane was not legal, but similar to most cars that use those streets. Green made a videotape that was played for the jury Wednesday, showing that most cars entering the residential street turn before they reach the middle of the intersection.

Green said he was not impaired by alcohol at all when he came to the intersection at about 11:30 p.m.

Didn’t See Motorcycle

He said he saw three cars coming from the opposite direction, but not the motorcycle driven by Rastello. “There was no question in my mind that I had sufficient time to complete my turn,” Green told the jury. The motorcycle hit him midway through the turn, only a second after he saw it out of the corner of his eye, Green said.

“I thought to make a sharper turn or accelerate,” Green testified. “There just wasn’t time.”

Green said he made a U-turn after the collision and parked his truck to protect Rastello from any oncoming traffic. He testified that he then used rags to make a dam so that gasoline leaking from Rastello’s motorcycle would not contaminate his wounds.

He testified that he never left the scene, and cannot understand why some witnesses said they did not recall seeing him until 15 minutes after the accident.

The 23-year Torrance police veteran also denied allegations made by a previous witness, a gas station cashier, who claimed that a drunken Green propositioned her four months after the Rastello accident.

Green admitted that he was intoxicated from “eight to 10” drinks when he went to the gas station but he testified: “I am sure I did not make any comments in reference to sex.”

Green said he stood by an earlier comment to Police Chief Donald Nash that the case against him and his fellow officers is a “pack of lies.”