Kolender, Top Aides Dismiss 30 Citations for Moving Violations

San Diego Police Chief Bill Kolender and his top assistants have dismissed at least 30 traffic citations since the beginning of last year for speeding, making illegal turns and running stop signs, a Times investigation has found.

In some cases, officers in Kolender’s office fabricated excuses for dismissing the citations on official Police Department forms.

A city administrator, for example, sought to have a speeding ticket dismissed in October, 1985, for driving 41 m.p.h. in a 25 m.p.h. zone because he was “on official business,” an unacceptable excuse. The dismissal slip said: “Driver en route home on family emergency.”

According to a monthlong Times investigation, the list of influential San Diegans who have gone to the chief’s office, rather than to Municipal Court, to take care of moving citations include businessman Ronald Lee Fowler, Channel 8 editorial director Carl Sisskind, Marriott Hotel general manager Reint Reinders and Ronald Reina, KSDO sportscaster and a close friend of Kolender.

Among the others were the uncle of Assistant Police Chief Bob Burgreen; the wives of Police Cmdr. Cal Krosch and San Diego Padres pitcher Rich Gossage, and the sons of developer Forrest Brehm, Padres General Manager Jack McKeon and John Rose, president of Rose Toyota and owner of a firm that sells equipment to the Police Department.

On Sunday, The Times reported that Kolender and his top administrators routinely dismiss thousands of parking tickets for friends, family members, former police officials, influential businessmen, police officers and the media. In many cases the Police Department violated its own policies by using flimsy or fabricated excuses or none at all, The Times found.

Confronted with The Times’ findings about parking ticket dismissals, Kolender said last week that he had not been involved in dismissing moving citations “in a long time.” He conceded Monday that he had arranged to dismiss at least one of the moving violations--in February for Burgreen’s uncle.

Kolender said, “We’re taking a look at our citation cancellation policy . . . If there is something that needs fixing, I’ll fix it. We have a fine Police Department. I work hard to keep it that way. We’re not saying everything is perfect, but when something is wrong, we’ll take care of it.”

The dismissals of moving violations found by The Times were described as “very serious” by Mayor Maureen O’Connor.

City Manager John Lockwood said he will investigate. “I’m going to look at everything,” he said, adding that he hoped to have some answers within two weeks.

Lockwood noted the inappropriate dismissal of a moving citation would be “a more serious offense” than canceling a parking ticket. “There’s a public safety issue. There’s a hazard there that’s greater.”

In an interview Friday, Kolender vehemently denied having anything to do with “fixing” a moving violation. He said he couldn’t remember saying “yes” to a request to have a traffic citation dismissed in “a long time,” perhaps as long as a decade.

“I’ve had a policy always on moving tickets not to get involved,” Kolender said last week.

But on Monday, Kolender confirmed that he had approved the dismissal of a citation for an illegal left turn issued in February to Conrad Burgreen, the assistant police chief’s uncle.

“He complained about the ticket,” Kolender said. “We checked it out. I can’t remember the particulars. The man was right, so we canceled it. It’s just that simple.”

Kolender said he could not recall whether he dismissed a speeding citation in February for John Anderson of Poway. Attached to the ticket was a note from Kolender’s office lieutenant, Charles Ellison, to a traffic division lieutenant. It said, “Per The Big Guy. Cancel.”

Asked if he was “The Big Guy,” Kolender responded, “I don’t know.”

Kolender also dismissed a moving citation in April, 1980, for his friend Reina, who had failed to obey a stop sign, according to a diary kept by Officer Jeanne Taylor, who said she worked as a “go-fer” in the chief’s office for two years.

Reina said in an interview last week that he had a hard time recalling the moving violation but thought it had occurred on Friars Road, the same location identified by Taylor.

Kolender said he could not recall ever fixing a ticket for Reina.

“There’s nothing from Ronnie that I know of,” Kolender said. “I don’t know that he gave it to me. I don’t think he did or I would remember it.”

Most people must dispute traffic citations in Municipal Court, which can require appearances in court on several days.

The Times reviewed police dismissal records of traffic violations dating back to January, 1985. The Police Department destroys all records before that date. The cancellations included the following:

- Cornelia Gossage said she intended to go to court to fight a citation she received in April for running a stop sign. Instead, she said her husband, who pitches for the Padres, agreed to make an appearance for the Police Officers Benevolent Assn. at its Make-A-Wish foundation fund-raising event.

“They took this ticket off, then he did community service for the policeman’s benevolent association instead,” Cornelia Gossage said. “Normally, he wasn’t going to go to the (fund-raiser).”

Said Burgreen: “That is very inappropriate. I really get concerned about that. I would hope that it didn’t happen that way. If it did, something has got to be done about it whether or not the citation was valid.

“We should never be involved in any activity where someone is doing us a favor in exchange for us doing them a favor. That is . . . very, very disturbing if it did happen.”

- John A. Rose Jr., son of the owner of Rose Toyota and Code 3 Enterprises, a police equipment firm, said he went to the Police Department to get a ticket dismissed for making a right turn and nearly hitting a pedestrian because it was “an obviously bad ticket.”

He said, “I’ve had speeding tickets . . . if I’m wrong, no big deal. If I’m right, I don’t want to waste two to three days of my time in court.”

When asked how he got the ticket dismissed, Rose said, “I know a lot of people in the Police Department. We own a company that sells equipment to the Police Department.”

Rose’s father insisted that his son did not use any connections to get the ticket dismissed.

- In October, 1985, William Sterling, a deputy director for solid waste disposal, was directed to rush to his boss’s city hall office with budget papers. En route from the Miramar landfill, he received a speeding ticket on Texas Street for driving 41 m.p.h. in a 25 m.p.h. zone.

Because he was on city business, Sterling alerted his boss, General Services Director Terry Flynn, about the citation. Flynn said he explained the situation to Burgreen, and the ticket was dismissed.

“This guy was en route with some rather important information,” Flynn said. “It was city business.”

The dismissal slip said, “Driver en route home on family emergency.”

Burgreen couldn’t remember the ticket but said official city business is no excuse for getting a speeding ticket.

- Ronald Lee Fowler, president of Mesa Distributing Co., was late for a charity fund-raising dinner in February when he was cited on southbound Interstate 5 at Carmel Valley Road for traveling 70 m.p.h.

Fowler said he turned the ticket over to attorney John McGuire. “I just wanted it taken care of,” said Fowler, who could not recall whether the ticket was dismissed.

McGuire said he does civil litigation work and has never represented Fowler.

In any case, the police dismissal form said, “En route to hospital on family emergency.”

Fowler said he never got a ticket while responding to any such urgent matter.

- Ron Brehm, a laborer employed by his father’s company, Brehm Communities, a development firm, said he could not recall details of the two citations he received last November for going 58 m.p.h. in a 35 m.p.h. zone and driving without his license.

But Brehm said he was definitely not rushing to see his doctor.

The excuse on the dismissal form read: “En route to doctor--re: family emergency. Forgot driver’s license in a rush.”

When asked if his father--a high school classmate of Burgreen--arranged for the ticket dismissal, the younger Brehm said, “It’s possible, but I doubt it.”

Forrest Brehm said he would never ask Burgreen or anyone else to “cover my son’s rear end.” Instead, the senior Brehm speculated that his son may have contacted Burgreen on his own.

“Ron knows Bob . . . if he felt he had been done an injustice, he might have called Burgreen . . . it appears they had some communication.”

Burgreen could not recall the ticket.

The phony excuses, Burgreen suggested, may have been used because “our people have simply fallen into some bad habits. We will have to correct that . . .

“I’m very concerned that it doesn’t look good. We have people coming in and saying one thing and dismissal forms saying another. I am concerned about that.”

Susan Heath, deputy city attorney in charge of prosecuting traffic offenders, said even if such an excuse as rushing to the hospital were accurate, she would not advocate a dismissal.

“If we were asked to dismiss it, we wouldn’t do it,” Heath said. “That’s for a judge to decide. That’s the process.”

Heath said fabricating such excuses could violate Section 1.44 of the police department’s rules and regulations, which states: “Members shall be truthful in all matters relating to their duties.” Violators can be disciplined and even fired, Heath said.

Unlike parking infractions, where city attorneys have the leeway to dismiss tickets before arraignment, moving violations are considered “a lot more dangerous” and almost always wind up in front of a judge if no guilty plea is entered, Heath said.

Also, conviction of a moving violation means adding points to a motorist’s driving record, Heath said. The limit is four points in one year. The number of points can affect insurance rates.

Fines imposed by the courts for moving violations can be substantial. Speeding tickets can result in a fine as low as $10 (exceeding posted speed by 1 to 5 m.p.h.) to $100 for exceeding the posted speed by more than 31 m.p.h.

Sisskind, the Channel 8 editorial director, had Burgreen cancel a ticket in which he was cited for going 57 m.p.h. in a 35 m.p.h. zone. Sisskind insisted he was driving in a 45 m.p.h. zone.

A San Diego firefighter who was cited for traveling 70 m.p.h. on the freeway eventually did not have to pay any fine because of his line of work. The cancellation slip said, “The main reason for this is (the officer) found out later this guy was a fireman . . . so mainly for that reason he wants to dismiss.”

Burgreen emphasized that 30 questionable moving citations out of an estimated 500,000 issued in the past two years indicates that the Police Department only recommends cancellations for legitimate tickets.

Nonetheless, he said, “We need to come up with a policy that will make the public feel confident that everyone gets the same treatment. The policy and the way we carry out our policy has not been tight. You can be sure when it comes to movers, it will be standardized and tightened more than it has in the past.”