Officer Used False Data for Warrant in Raid, LAPD Alleges

A police officer used false information to obtain search warrants for a raid in South-Central Los Angeles last year that left four apartments demolished and their occupants in need of disaster aid, the Police Department contended Monday.

Officer Carl A. Sims, a narcotics investigator and seven-year police veteran, also wrongly arrested one man during the Aug. 1, 1988, incident in the 3900 block of Dalton Avenue, filed a false report on the arrest and improperly disposed of and lied about what property had been seized, the department said.

The allegations were made at the start of a police tribunal for Sims, one of at least 78 officers who took part in the raid. So far, authorities have announced various disciplinary actions against 38 of the officers and criminal charges against three. Criminal charges have also been filed against a police captain who was not at the scene.

9 to Face Tribunals

Nine of the officers, including Sims, were ordered to face police tribunals, proceedings similar to military courts-martial that can lead to an officer being fired. No criminal charges have been filed against Sims, who pleaded not guilty to the Police Department’s allegations.

Sims’ tribunal before three command-level officers--the first scheduled--provided the initial indication that allegations that precipitated the raid may have been fabricated.

Sgt. Monrow Mabon, who is acting as prosecutor, said in his opening statement that the affidavit Sims wrote to obtain the search warrants is full of “embellishments.”

In addition, Mabon said, the department has a tape recording of Sims admitting that he threw away evidence and “independent” witnesses who will testify that Sims lied when he claimed that Hildebrandt Flowers, 27, had been arrested in one of the four apartments.

Flowers’ sister, Gloria, who lived in one of the apartments, testified Monday that her brother was across the street when arrested.

Sims is being represented by a sergeant appointed by the department and a lawyer from the Police Protective League. Both waived the right to an opening statement and later declined to discuss the case with a reporter.

Details of Affidavit

A copy of the search warrant affidavit obtained by The Times shows that Sims portrayed the four apartments that were to be raided as stash houses for gang members who sold narcotics on the street.

The affidavit says a high level of narcotics activity had been observed outside the apartments by two undercover officers. According to the affidavit, officers were to search for drugs, drug paraphernalia and items that would establish who lived in the apartments.

When the officers arrived, however, scores of witnesses say, they immediately began tearing up the apartments with sledgehammers. Toilets and sinks were ripped from walls, bleach was poured on clothing and plaster was torn from walls.

Tenants were marched outside and made to lie in a dirt yard, where many were beaten, witnesses said. Thirty-three were taken to the Southwest Division station, where, witnesses said, some were forced to run past officers while whistling the theme to TV’s “Andy Griffith Show.” Those who would not allegedly were beaten.

Disaster Aid

The apartments were in such bad shape after the raids that the Red Cross was summoned and offered the families who lived in them the same emergency aid--food, shelter and clothing--offered to victims of natural disasters.

The occupants later told reporters that the only thing the officers seemed interested in finding was someone they said had called the Southwest Division earlier threatening to kill an officer.