Detective Sues Over Drug Theft Inquiry
A Los Angeles police detective filed a $10-million lawsuit in federal court Friday accusing fellow officers of trying to “frame” him on charges that he “habitually stole” narcotics during drug investigations.
James Tomer, 37, a 17-year veteran now assigned to the Hollywood Division, named Police Chief Daryl F. Gates as a defendant along with Officers Luis Lopez, Raymond Lombardo, Michael Ranshaw and Jerry Bova.
Attorney Stephen Yagman, who filed the suit on behalf of Tomer, said he added Gates as a defendant “mainly because he is the head man in a department whose custom and policy is to have an Internal Affairs Division that is overzealous in making cases against officers who are accused by fellow officers without respect to the likelihood of guilt.”
Tomer was acquitted at a police Board of Rights hearing on departmental charges against him.
Gates and the other defendants were not available for comment
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