The State - News from July 30, 1986

Stanford University workers criticized the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center for “using convicted felons to spy on employees.” An ex-felon, planted as an informant, was arrested along with three center workers on suspicion of grand theft and receiving stolen property. Two employees also were arrested on suspicion of possessing cocaine. The property, which included computer parts and scrap metal, was all “small stuff,” said San Mateo County Sheriff’s Lt. Alan Johnson. Bernie Lighthouse, personnel manager at the center, criticized the Sheriff’s Department for not doing “a little better job, a little more professional job. When the undercover agent steals our equipment and resells it, that doesn’t sound very professional to me.” The center, which employs 1,340 full-time workers, is a high-energy physics research facility.