S. Pasadena Officer Tampered With Car, Records Show

After telling investigators that he could not have been involved in a hit-and-run crash because his car was broken down, a South Pasadena police officer and a colleague removed the carburetor from the vehicle--only to be caught in the act by fellow officers, according to city documents released Tuesday.

The officer, Scott D. Ziegler, was fired last year after The Times reported on the crash and allegations that the then-police chief helped cover it up.

The documents were gathered by attorneys for Marisa Colatriano, whose car was damaged in the crash. She had sued the city, settling the case last month for $35,000. Part of the agreement called for public disclosure of documents, which provide the fullest account yet of the crash, an incident that haunted this quiet suburb last year and remains under investigation by the FBI.

Late on the afternoon of Sept. 8, a Camaro driven by the off-duty Ziegler sped down Pasadena Avenue about 50 mph, hit a parked Honda and then drove off, stopping only momentarily, according to police documents.

A witness wrote down the Camaro’s license plate number. A short time later, a South Pasadena police sergeant interviewed Ziegler and smelled alcohol on his breath, according to police documents. Ziegler denied involvement in the crash and said the car wasn’t working. He speculated that the person who reported his involvement was really trying to injure his father-in-law, former South Pasadena Mayor Ted Shaw, who owned the Camaro.

The documents state that after further investigation that evening, two sergeants went to Ziegler’s apartment and found him removing the Camaro’s carburetor. Ziegler continued to deny involvement in the crash. But the next day he admitted to investigators that he had lost control of the car on the way home from a liquor store and had driven “evasively” because he feared that he was being followed, according to the documents.

Ziegler was fired from the department by Capt. Mike Ward. According to the documents, two other officers--Frank Litterini and Matt Petersen--were also involved in the incident and were disciplined. The papers did not give any details about their involvement.

Police Chief Thomas Mahoney, who had been on vacation, hired Ziegler back two weeks later and never forwarded the case to prosecutors, authorities say. In a memo to then-City Manager Ken Farfsing, Mahoney said his command staff supported his move to rehire Ziegler. But Ward actually objected, according to documents.

In April, Mayor Dorothy Cohen inquired about the case, according to a memo written by Mahoney to Farfsing. In that memo, Mahoney forcefully defended himself: “The accident was reported immediately to the car’s owner . . . and complete restitution was made. To have done otherwise would obviously have violated the law.”

But the owner of the damaged car said police never told her who drove the Camaro and she was never paid for the $550 in damages. After The Times reported on the crash, she filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city.

Ziegler was prosecuted for misdemeanor hit-and-run and fired from the department last fall. His attorney said Tuesday that Ziegler was not part of a cover-up and was improperly fired.

After the report that the car’s owner had not been paid, Mahoney immediately went on paid leave. He resigned earlier this year after the City Council moved to terminate him.