Ex-Officer Accused of Pension Bid Lies

A former Los Angeles police sergeant was charged Thursday with perjury and grand theft for allegedly lying to the Board of Pension Commissioners three years ago about his real estate activities in an effort to receive a stress-related disability pension.

City officials said this is the first such perjury case they can recall involving a police officer’s statements to the pension board.

A complaint filed by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office accuses ex-Sgt. John Michael Petrosky, 36, of perjuring himself five times through answers he gave when the board questioned him on Aug. 11, 1983, about his role in Village Oaks Realty, a Thousand Oaks brokerage company that he owns along with his wife.

The grand theft count alleges that he tried to unlawfully take money and personal property from the city through his pension application.

Realty Firm

At a time when Petrosky told the board he was too incapacitated to work as a police officer, “he was actively involved in the administration of a real estate brokerage firm with numerous salesmen and brokers,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Lawrence Mira said in an interview.

Mira, who filed the complaint against Petrosky, added: “It’s our theory that utilizing untruthful statements was one of many acts done in an attempt to obtain a pension on false pretenses.”

Petrosky, who joined the police force in 1971, first sought a disability pension in July, 1981, on grounds that he was suffering from a gastrointestinal condition. The application was denied the following March. In December, 1982, the sergeant filed a new application, claiming that in addition to the gastrointestinal illness, he now had a psychiatric problem.

The Times reported last year as part of a series on stress-related police pensions that the psychologist treating Petrosky used the sergeant’s real estate office as his broker when he bought one $200,000 house and sold another.

The psychologist, Lester Summerfield, wrote city officials in April, 1983, that Petrosky suffered from “sleep disorders, gastrointestinal difficulties and compulsive eating.” The same week, Petrosky led Summerfield on a “walk-through” of the psychologist’s new house.

Petrosky, who received his broker’s license in 1979, later told the pension board that he went through the house with the psychologist to see whether any repairs were needed, according to a transcript of the hearing. It was his wife, however, who sold Summerfield the house, he said.

While denying that he actively participated in the real estate office, he testified, “My wife’s down there almost all the time, so I go down and clean the office. I do some filing for her.”

At another point he said, “I don’t get involved in the paper work or the transactions,” adding that he sometimes answered the telephone if no one else was around.

Unpersuaded, then-Commission President David Bow Woo said at the conclusion of Petrosky’s hearing, “I believe that his testimony indicates that he was less than credible with us.”

The pension was denied that day.

Petrosky, whose last day of police work was in February, 1981, resigned from the police force last year.

Mira said Petrosky is expected to surrender on Aug. 15 for his arraignment in Los Angeles Municipal Court. He faces a maximum of four years on each perjury count and 18 months on the grand theft count, the prosecutor said.

Heads Section

Assistant City Atty. Siegfried O. Hillmer, who is charge of the office’s pensions section, said this is the first such perjury case he can recall.

One of Petrosky’s attorneys, Mark Geragos, said his client “was a superb police officer with an impeccable record and we welcome the opportunity to clear his name of any innuendoes suggested by these allegations.”

He declined to elaborate.

Each Los Angeles police officer who wins a disability pension is guaranteed between 50% and 90% of his salary, tax free. Assuming he lives to the age of 72, he would receive an average of $823,000--and up to $2.7 million if cost-of-living adjustments are included, according to city officials.