Holden’s Aide Complained of Debts, Shop Owner in Sting Says

Coy Sallis, a $21,000-a-year aide to Los Angeles City Councilman Nate Holden suspected of accepting a $1,000 bribe from the owner of a Pico Boulevard auto shop, complained repeatedly of his need for money because of debts to the Internal Revenue Service, the shop owner said Friday.

Larry Scarth, the owner of Carnation Auto Body Shop at 5450 W. Pico Blvd., said Sallis asked for the money twice Wednesday while being monitored as part of a district attorney’s sting operation.

Each time, Scarth said, Sallis made it clear that he was willing to help ease community pressure on the body shop, which had been the target of continuing complaints by nearby apartment residents. Sallis, a field deputy in Holden’s 10th Council District, had been responsible for much of an aggressive cleanup program aimed at reducing trash and clutter at about 160 body shops in the area.

Sallis, 53, a former campaign worker in Holden’s successful city election bid last year, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of soliciting and receiving a bribe, a felony punishable by up to four years in state prison, said spokesman Al Albergate of the district attorney’s office.

However, Sallis has not been charged pending further investigation of the case, Albergate said. Investigators will decide by Aug. 3 whether to file charges, he said. Meanwhile, Sallis is free on $3,000 bail.

In an interview Friday, body shop owner Scarth said Sallis first asked for money--a $1,000 loan--during a telephone conversation July 6. It was common for Sallis to stop in at the body shop or to call on the phone to check out the complaints of neighbors, Scarth said.

After one such call, according to Scarth, the aide said, “ ‘Hey, I’ve got something to talk to you about.’ “I said, ‘Well, what is it?’ He said, ‘Well, I need a loan.’ I said, ‘What’s it for?’ He went on to tell me the trouble he was in with the IRS. . . . He told me the IRS was garnisheeing his wages. What he had left wasn’t enough to live on.

“I said, ‘What do you need?’ He said, ‘A thousand dollars.’ ”

Sallis, who had always been friendly in his dealings with the body shop, promised to pay back a portion of the money every two weeks from his paycheck, according to Scarth.

Scarth said he responded to the request for money by contacting the district attorney’s office and agreeing to cooperate in a sting operation aimed at Sallis. While being electronically monitored, Scarth talked to Sallis twice Wednesday--once on the phone and once at the body shop. Sallis brought up the money on the phone and arrived at the shop a short while later expecting to receive the $1,000 he needed, Scarth said.

At the suggestion of investigators, Scarth said, he asked Sallis what the body shop would get in return for making the loan. According to Scarth, Sallis responded by asking what the shop owner wanted.

“I said, ‘It would be nice if the lady next door wasn’t leaving me (complaint) notes every time I turn around,’ ” Scarth said. “He said, ‘No problem, man. I’ll talk to her on Friday. . . .’ ”

Scarth said he then offered Sallis a $1,000 company check, but the aide declined it and asked for cash instead. “He said, ‘I can’t take that. I need the cash,’ Scarth said. “(So) I gave him the $1,000. He shook my hand, thanked me. He said, ‘I sure appreciate it. I need the money bad.’ ”

Holden, who praised Sallis’ efforts to clean up body shops and rock houses, questioned whether the aide initiated the loan. Shortly after the arrest, Sallis admitted to the councilman that he had talked of borrowing money from the shop owner, but the aide insisted he had not taken a bribe, Holden said.

“Sallis said he would take a polygraph test,” Holden said Friday. “Who initiated the (transaction), I don’t know. At this point, there’s nothing to do but wait and see what happens” with the investigation.

Holden--who has placed Sallis on leave without pay until the case is resolved--said Sallis even asked the councilman for a loan. Holden declined it.

“He’s not that bad a guy,” Holden said. “He did a dumb thing . . . a stupid thing.”