Owner of Rammed Home Faces Trial in 1984 Raid.

The owner of the suspected Pacoima drug “rock house” that was heavily damaged last week by a Los Angeles police battering ram was arrested last year in connection with the alleged operation of another “rock house” next door, Sheriff’s Department officials said Wednesday.

Jeffrey A. Bryant, 33, of Pacoima was arrested June 27, 1984, on suspicion of possession of cocaine for sale shortly before officers raided an alleged rock house he owns at 13031 Louvre St. in Pacoima, sheriff’s officials said. The case has yet to come to trial.

In the raid last year, officers confiscated three ounces of cocaine, packaged for sale and valued at about $5,000, and several weapons, including a sawed-off shotgun, Sheriff’s Department Lt. Mike Fossey said.

County property records show Bryant is also the owner of the house at 13037 Louvre St., where Los Angeles police Feb. 6 unveiled the controversial battering ram, attached to an armored military vehicle, to smash a hole in the home during a drug raid.

2 Women, 3 Children at Home

The home’s only occupants at the time of the raid were two women and three small children. The raid turned up only a small quantity of cocaine and no weapons, police said.

Arrested soon after the raid on suspicion of possession of cocaine for sale was Antonio Johnson, 25, a resident of the house. Johnson said he and his wife rented the house from Bryant.

Johnson’s wife, Linda Brown Johnson, was arrested during the raid on suspicion of child endangering. But police said Wednesday that the case against her was being dropped because prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence.

Linda Brown Johnson said her 5-year-old child, one of the children in the home at the time of the raid, is to remain in the custody of her grandmother pending the results of a Department of Public Social Services investigation.

Police said they are still preparing evidence to submit to the district attorney’s office against Antonio Johnson, who is free on bail. But police suggested that they may have problems pursuing a case against him also.

Name Not Disclosed

Police have said Antonio Johnson’s arrest was based on an earlier undercover purchase of cocaine from the residence by a police informant. Police, however, have vowed not to disclose the informant’s name, even if the case hinges on that information, according to police Sgt. Roger Dunn.

According to Fossey, the raid last year at the other home owned by Bryant was prompted by information that he was operating a rock house--a heavily fortified dwelling from which drugs are sold--at 13031 Louvre St.

Fossey said Bryant apparently employed several men, each working eight-hour shifts, to sell drugs through a mail slot in the metal front door. Bryant would lock a drug salesman inside the house, making it impossible for him to leave until Bryant returned to let him out, a common procedure at rock houses, Fossey said.

In documents filed in Van Nuys Municipal Court in support of the warrant to search the home last year, sheriff’s narcotics detectives said Bryant and his brother, Stanley Bryant, “are considered large-scale dope dealers in Pacoima.” Officers also secured the right to search two other homes owned by the Bryants.

According to the affidavit, Los Angles police began investigating homes owned by Jeffrey Bryant as early as April, 1982.

As a result of the 1984 Sheriff’s Department investigation, Jeff Bryant was arrested on suspicion of cocaine sales and his wife Rochelle on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, according to the court records.

Fossey said another suspect was arrested inside the Pacoima home. The search turned up a half gram of cocaine and eight small bags containing small residues of cocaine, Fossey said. Officers also found a plastic bag with cocaine, packaged in small amounts for sale, stuffed in a deep fryer in the home’s kitchen, he said.

The preliminary hearing for all three defendants, delayed by a series of postponements, is scheduled March 1 in Van Nuys Municipal Court.

Jeffrey Bryant, who has not returned numerous calls, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Police have not indicated whether Jeffrey Bryant is a suspect in the raid earlier this month at his adjoining property in Pacoima.

The use of the battering ram at the site has prompted protests from several religious and civil rights groups in the area.

In a related development Wednesday, Assemblyman Gray Davis (D-Sherman Oaks) said Wednesday that he will introduce a bill to make it a felony for any landlord to knowingly allow his building to be converted into a rock house for the purpose of drug manufacture or sale.

“I believe landlords should not be blind to the criminal use of their property,” Davis said.

Crackdown Proposed

Mayor Tom Bradley’s Task Force on Gang Violence also proposed cracking down on rock house landlords last month.

Los Angeles police have encountered numerous cases in which landlords knew their property had been heavily fortified by drug dealers, but never notified the authorities, said Deputy Mayor Tom Houston, who has been working with Davis on formulation of the bill.

Davis on Feb. 1 submitted a rough draft of the bill for review by the Legislative counsel. The assemblyman said he would introduce the legislation if the counsel concludes the bill is constitutional.

The bill would make it a felony for landlords to knowingly allow drug dealers to operate from their property. The offense currently is a misdemeanor.

One problem in drafting such a bill is defining a rock house so as not to affect citizens who install security devices--such as window bars and multiple dead bolts on their doors--in their homes to prevent crime.

Joan Howarth, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, said she is skeptical an acceptable definition can be drafted. “I have questions about how they will draft the legislation so it is specific enough so they don’t include landlords who are protecting their tenants against crime,” she said.

Times Staff Writer John Nielsen also contributed to this story.