Mistaken Identity : 3 Deputies Cleared in Near-Arrest

An internal investigation has cleared three Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies of wrongdoing in an episode in which a West Hollywood man claimed he was handcuffed for 90 minutes and his apartment ransacked after the deputies mistook him for someone else.

But a Sheriff’s Department captain said that officials still intend to offer Steve Maloff an apology.

“It was an unfortunate incident,” said Capt. Rachel Burgess, the new head of the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station. “He (Maloff) was clearly the wrong guy. He did nothing wrong.”

Meanwhile, Maloff said that “while an apology would be nice,” he is “extremely disappointed” that no disciplinary action was taken against the officers.

“All I can say is, if that’s what they’re claiming (that there was no wrongdoing), that’s absurd, and the people of West Hollywood have reason to be frightened,” he said.

Detained on Street

Maloff, a free-lance writer, was detained after midnight Oct. 6 while walking near his home after deputies became convinced he was Steve Michael, a perennial City Council candidate and frequent critic of the Sheriff’s Department who has been wanted by authorities for several months.

Michael, whose community newspaper often accused sheriff’s deputies of harassing gays and lesbians, is charged with grand theft involving more than $2,000 in bad checks. Michael’s paper, West Hollywood USA, ceased publication in April, and authorities have said they believe he has moved to the San Diego area.

Sheriff’s Cmdr. Bill Baker said the investigation “failed to substantiate” Maloff’s claim that the deputies mistreated him, or that any of the three deputies “did anything that was inappropriate.”

Baker declined to identify the officers. Maloff has identified two of them as Sheriff’s Deputies Jimmie Johnson and Joseph Trejo, both of whose names appear on an official report of the incident.

“What (the investigation) did show were some inconsistencies in some of Mr. Maloff’s statements, including the amount of time he says the entire incident lasted,” Baker said.

Comment From Councilman

City Councilman Steve Schulte, one of several city officials who have expressed concern about the incident to Sheriff’s Department officials, said that “an apology is certainly in order.”

“I say that based on the fact that (Maloff) was an innocent person who was at the very least inconvenienced, and not on the basis of some judgment about the conduct of the officers involved,” Schulte said. “But I think a number of us want to know more about the matter.”

Maloff said he was walking home about 12:45 a.m. after having a drink with friends when deputies began questioning him, and that it was after 2 a.m. before he was released.

He said that despite showing them his driver’s license, which bears his photo, he was placed in handcuffs after deputies refused to believe he was not Michael.

Deputies ‘Gleeful’

Maloff, who said he had never heard of Michael before the incident, said the deputies “were gleeful” at the thought of having apprehended Michael, and taunted him by yelling, “We know who you are,” and, “We’ve got you now.”

He said that Trejo threatened to “stuff a flashlight down my throat,” and that another deputy he could not identify “clucked like a chicken” when he tried to explain that he was not Michael.

Not until City Councilman John Heilman was awakened by authorities and brought to the scene at 1:30 a.m. to identify “Michael” did the ordeal end.

Even so, Maloff claims he was detained another 30 minutes, and that Johnson, who he claims searched his apartment, threatened to return later in the day with a search warrant and “kick the door in” if Maloff wasn’t there.

Time Frame in Dispute

Baker disputed Maloff’s claim that he was held for 90 minutes, saying that the investigation showed the time could not have been more than 60 minutes “and was more probably in the neighborhood of 45 (minutes).”

He said that the official log of the incident showed that Maloff was detained at 1:05 a.m.

Baker said that the deputy searched the apartment after Maloff gave his permission.

“The deputies, from what the evidence suggests, went out of their way to avoid placing Mr. Maloff under arrest by going to the apartment after he gave them permission in order to conduct a search for additional items of identification,” the commander said.

“As for (Maloff’s) being placed in handcuffs, that is standard procedure whenever a deputy feels there may be the threat of bodily harm, or that there is a likelihood the suspect may try to avoid arrest.”

Baker said the investigation concluded that the charges regarding the threats and taunts “could not be substantiated” because “the officers denied having made derisive remarks.”

He said the officer who searched the apartment “was in there no more than five minutes” and that “shortly after” Heilman appeared at the scene, Maloff was released.

However, Maloff insists otherwise.

While acknowledging having told an investigator that he “couldn’t be sure about the length of time” the episode lasted, he said, “It’s absolutely untrue that I was released shortly after Councilman Heilman arrived at the scene. . . . I was held a long period of time after he left.”

Heilman’s Account

Heilman has said he was awakened at 1:20 a.m. and was taken to where Maloff was being detained outside his apartment building about 1:30 a.m.

“They say I gave my permission (for the search), but that leaves a connotation that isn’t accurate,” Maloff said.

“I was handcuffed, terrified, exhausted, and had been verbally abused for what seemed like forever when Johnson put his hands in my pocket, takes out my keys and says, ‘I’m going in there,’ ” he said. “If I said something like, ‘Go ahead, and you’re gonna find out I’m telling you the truth,’ I don’t think you can call that an invitation.

“I never thought he would ransack my place. . . . All they would have had to have done is ask me to go inside and they could have accompanied me and I would have given them what they wanted. But instead, I was treated like a criminal.”

Baker denied that the apartment was ransacked, and said that according to the investigating officer, Maloff had conceded that “nothing in his apartment was disturbed.”

But Maloff called that “false,” saying the investigator “asked me if anything was broken, and I said no. A lot of things were disturbed. He (Johnson) went through my place on a rampage.”