Police Ask City to Step Aside in Bradley Inquiry

Los Angeles Police Department officials told the city controller Monday to hold back on his probe of city fiscal matters involving Mayor Tom Bradley, saying that the tangential inquiry could hamper the LAPD’s pursuit of criminal angles in the wide-ranging case.

“What we are really trying to do is make sure we don’t have tainted witnesses,” said Deputy Police Chief Bernard Parks.

While the LAPD assigned bunco forgery investigators to the Bradley inquiry months ago, a meeting with City Controller Rick Tuttle in his office on Monday marked the first time the Police Department has attempted to exert its dominance in a field crowded with investigators. It followed a week of explosive City Council testimony in which attempts to alter documents to remove a reference to Bradley were disclosed by officials in the city treasurer’s office.

Retirement Move

Meanwhile, it was learned Monday that one of three key witnesses in the hearings last week before a committee filed for retirement before testifying about his role in the alleged cover-up.

William T. Hoss, 68, submitted his retirement request on the same day a city auditor’s report alleged that officials had altered a document reporting two $1-million deposits in a bank that had paid Bradley consultant fees. Auditors in subsequent council testimony said Hoss blotted out from the document the phrase “per the mayor” with white correction ink.

Political Jockeying

The hearings last week gave rise to political maneuvers by council members and other officials who jockeyed for position over who should take the lead role in the mushrooming investigation into the mayor and related matters.

Tuttle was one of several officials who had increasingly attempted to influence the course of the investigations, most of which center on conflict-of-interest allegations that have shadowed the five-term mayor since March.

“They were interviewing people ahead of us, and that allows people to adjust their stories and become fully aware of the available evidence before we have an ability to evaluate it on the criminal level,” said Parks, one of three ranking police officials who met with Tuttle. The deputy chief said Tuttle agreed to comply because “he realized the significance of the criminal investigation.”

Parks and other police officials declined to specify what witnesses they want to interview and what criminal lines they are pursuing.

“We are investigating the issues that have arisen in regard to the activities of city officials who have been given a great deal of publicity,” said Cmdr. William Booth, a Police Department spokesman, “and that is as specific as I am going to get.”

Deputy Mayor Mike Gage last week said Bradley has not been interviewed by any investigators.

While the LAPD agreed to place two bunco forgery detectives at the city’s attorney disposal, it has maintained all along that it would follow its own investigative course.

Said Booth: “Each agency has retained its own independence, but our objectives are so similar that we share and share alike.”

In addition, the city auditor, the city controller, at least two council committees, the state Fair Political Practices Commission and federal authorities interested mainly in Bradley’s stock transactions have disclosed varying levels of investigative interest in the case.

The council today is scheduled to debate whether to consolidate the probe under one City Council committee. While a proposal by Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores specifically would undercut the city attorney, how it would affect the Police Department is not clear.

Flores said she was unaware of the separate police inquiry until Monday night, when she was contacted by a reporter. Like many council members, Flores said she assumed the LAPD was operating at the city attorney’s direction.

“Even if they are separate, I think they should be reporting to the committee and taking assignments from the committee,” said Flores, who added that the negotiated settlement between the LAPD and the controller’s office shows the need for a super committee. “All these things point to the need to coordinate,” she said.

LAPD officials made clear Monday, however, that they have no plans to surrender the department’s independence in its criminal probe.

Although the police investigation is staffed by only two veteran detectives, department officials say the lack of manpower should not be interpreted as a lack of commitment. The two detectives, police explained, are drawing upon the expertise and information of other public bodies that have undertaken Bradley probes.

Deputy Chief Parks said: “This is a very significant investigation.”

To date, the most explosive information in the various investigations surfaced last week in the council committee’s highly publicized hearings. They were spawned by a city audit revealing that a treasurer’s office document had been doctored to “create the false impression” that a required competitive bidding procedure had been held in March before $2 million in tax money was deposited in Far East National Bank.

Last year, the Chinatown bank paid Bradley $18,000 in advisory fees, which the mayor has since returned. Bradley has denied using his official capacity to steer city business to Far East.

During hearings on the audit, it also was disclosed that the phrase “per the mayor” had been clumsily obscured with white correction ink from the “bid sheet.” A treasurer’s office investment officer in his testimony stated that co-worker Hoss was responsible for “whiting out” the phrase and coming up with the idea of placing the names of other banks on the bid sheet.

Hoss, a 28-year employee of the treasurer’s office, who denied any complicity in the document tampering, filed for retirement July 20--the day the audit report was released. Hoss testified for one day and assured the committee that he would be available the next.

Instead, he left on a three-week vacation and did not inform the committee that he had filed for retirement.

Depending on his accumulated vacation time, it is possible he could reach his retirement date of Sept. 12 without returning to work, said Raymond A. Young, assistant manager of the City Employees’ Retirement System.

Hoss on Monday was said to be out of town and unreachable.

Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who chairs the council’s Finance and Revenue Committee, said of Hoss’ surprise retirement: “It’s a good thing. I don’t think the city was being well served by Mr. Hoss’ work habits and job performance.”

Yaroslavsky said he still plans to recall Hoss to the witness stand and will issue a subpoena compelling him to testify if necessary. “We’re not done with him,” said Yaroslavsky. “This will not keep him from having to testify.”

Bradley, an aide said, was unaware of Hoss’ retirement until his staff was informed by Times reporters.

Meanwhile, Councilman Richard Alatorre, concerned about chaos in the treasurer’s office, said he has negotiated for the immediate hiring of two staff members to buttress the three-man investment team and today will ask the council to approve hiring an outside accounting firm to keep an eye on the treasurer’s investment staff and report weekly to the council.

Times staff writer Tracy Wood contributed to this report.