Police Find No Fukuto, City Link

Hoping to settle “a number of rumors” about a possible link between the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department and the masked gunman who killed two of its commanders, city officials said Tuesday that David J. Fukuto had never applied for a job nor been arrested in the small South Bay community.

“Simply stated, there is no connection,” said Redondo Beach Police Lt. Jeff Cameron, who is serving as a spokesman for the department.

After it was learned last week that Fukuto had been rejected by the Los Angeles Police Department in 1992, Cameron said there was speculation that a similar relationship with Palos Verdes Estates police might help explain the Valentine’s Day attack that claimed the lives of Capt. Michael Tracy and Sgt. Thomas Vanderpool during a motivational seminar at the Torrance Holiday Inn.

But after combing employment and arrest records, he said, officials found no mention of the 32-year-old Fukuto, son of state Appellate Justice Morio L. Fukuto. “Both of those were dead-ends,” Cameron told reporters gathered at Palos Verdes Estates City Hall.

At the same news conference, Police Chief Gary E. Johansen released a statement saying that his 23-officer department would return today to normal patrol duties, which have been shared for the last week by officers in neighboring Torrance and Redondo Beach.

“Our officers have had time to grieve,” Johansen said. “Now it is time for the department to respect our lost officers by returning to the work of protecting our citizens.”

Mayor Michael C. Moody added that he would ask the City Council to begin planning a community barbecue to thank everyone who has been “so gracious to us in our time of need.”

He also said he would seek funds to refurbish the Palos Verdes Estates veterans memorial--originally built to honor those who died in World War II--so that it reflects the city’s most recent losses.