Officer Disputes Claims of Chronic Drinking Problem Before Fatal Crash

The central defendant in a massive lawsuit against the Torrance Police Department and nine of its officers testified Wednesday that he had a reputation within the department as a heavy drinker but that his drinking was not a chronic problem in the months before the 1984 traffic accident that triggered the lawsuit.

In 45 minutes of testimony, Sgt. Rollo Green described himself in Los Angeles Superior Court as a man who drank too much on occasion but who also went “days, weeks, months” without drinking.

Green’s testimony contradicts contentions by the plaintiff in the case, John Rastello of San Pedro, that Green was repeatedly drunk on and off duty, and that his fellow officers did nothing to resolve the problem.

Rastello’s suit, which accuses the Torrance Police Department of routinely whitewashing misconduct by its officers, was filed 12 days after his son Kelly, 19, was killed in an Aug. 30, 1984, traffic collision with Green.

John Rastello’s lawyers have contended during the 2-week-old trial that Green was drunk and made an illegal left turn, causing the collision with Kelly Rastello’s motorcycle. Rastello’s lawsuit alleges that Green’s fellow officers covered up the facts of the incident and that Torrance officers habitually concealed wrongdoing by fellow police.

Pursuing those allegations, Rastello’s lawyers presented a wide range of witnesses this week: A woman testified that police officers discouraged her from filing a complaint after she was raped by an off-duty Torrance policeman. And a gas station cashier said Green appeared to be drunk--and made sexual advances toward her--when he drove to her service station four months after the fatal crash. But one of Green’s neighbors also testified, saying Green did not appear to be drunk on the night of the accident.

The trial recessed for three days after Green’s testimony. He is scheduled to retake the stand Tuesday to discuss the accident itself.

How Much They Knew

Wednesday’s testimony centered on Green’s alleged history of alcohol abuse. Judge Abby Soven told jurors that they should use the information only to decide how much others in the police department knew about Green’s drinking and not to judge whether the veteran sergeant was drunk the night of the crash.

Green testified that a month or two before the crash, he sought out the advice of Torrance police Lt. David Marsden, an unofficial alcohol counselor for the department. Green said he went to Marsden because of “things I said to my wife when I had too much to drink” during a trip the couple took to Big Bear.

“I was reaching out,” Green testified. “I wasn’t really clear on what type of help he could provide, if any.”

Green testified that Marsden brought him to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and that he had an “open invitation” to attend more meetings, but that he did not go back to A.A. at any time in 1984. Green did not say why he attended just one meeting, or if he took part in any of the group’s meetings after 1984.

‘I Drank Rarely’

Green told jurors that he considered the Big Bear incident with his wife an isolated problem. “I drank rarely during that period of time,” he testified.

The 23-year police veteran appeared composed during most of his testimony, often turning to face the jury as he spoke, but he hesitated before answering a question about his reputation as a heavy drinker.

Rastello attorney Browne Greene responded by reading Rollo Green’s pretrial deposition.

“I had a reputation as a heavy drinker, partier, womanizer,” Green said in the sworn statement.

The testimony could be important, because the city of Torrance could be held liable if the jury determines that Police Department employees knew Green had a dangerous drinking problem and did nothing about it.

Rape Complaint

Earlier Wednesday, the plaintiffs presented testimony from a woman who said Police Department investigators tried to discourage her from filing a complaint after she was raped by a Torrance policeman.

The woman testified that she was living in a Torrance apartment building in 1979 when she jogged to a local bar, the Zebra Room, to have a drink. She said it was morning and that several off-duty police officers, who appeared to be drunk, approached her and bought her several drinks.

She said that she invited four of the men to come back to her apartment building for a swim in the pool. “I believed it would be very safe with the Torrance Police Department,” the woman said. “I thought that they would be safe people.”

A total of eight officers came to her apartment and brought a case of beer with them, she testified.

In often tearful testimony, she said she became alarmed by the number of officers and went into her bedroom to change out of her swimsuit. When one of the officers entered the room and propositioned her she said no and the man left, she testified.

But when a second officer came into the room, he was not put off by her protestations and he pinned her to the bed, the woman testified. “I started trying to resist and he started hitting me,” she said. “He said that I deserved this. That I asked for it.”

Drank Vodka

She said the man, whom she did not name, raped her and then invited two more officers to come into the room. “He invited them to use me, too,” she testified.

But she said she was able to persuade the two men to leave her alone. She testified that she drank vodka until she passed out, and emerged from her room four hours later to find her apartment in shambles.

Attorney Greene then asked the woman to study reports of the incident made by the Torrance Police Department. “There is a lot missing about the sexual part,” she said of one of the reports.

She testified that police investigators discouraged her from filing a criminal complaint against the officer, telling her that if the case went to court she would be “put on trial” too.

She said she eventually decided not to press the rape case because she was trying to recover from alcohol addiction and she felt a trial might be “too humiliating.”

Signed Police Reports

The woman, who now owns two art galleries, said she did not know if the officers were punished, but Greene said during his questioning that they were not.

On cross-examination, the city’s lead attorney, Casey Yim, noted that the woman had signed police reports about the incident. Yim said there were other indications that the Police Department investigated the case thoroughly: Officers were questioned about the incident, follow-up reports were written and a letter was mailed to the woman describing the disposition of the case.

On Tuesday, Rastello’s lawyers presented another witness whose testimony they said illustrated the special treatment that Green received.

A former gas station cashier, Denise Hayward, testified that in January, 1985, Green came to the Standard station where she worked on Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance to fill up his white pickup truck.

Speech Was Slurred

Green drove erratically as he entered the station, swerving at the last moment to avoid a gas pump, Hayward testified. She said that Green’s breath smelled of alcohol and that his speech was slurred.

Hayward testified that she called police--fearing that Green could cause a collision if he left the station--but that it took Torrance officers more than an hour to respond.

Fearing Green would drive off, Hayward told jurors she and station attendant Rob Ralph stalled Green. First they let the air out of his tires. Then Ralph checked under Green’s hood. “Rob did a complete, full service on the self-service island,” Hayward testified.

The police had still not arrived, so Hayward got in the passenger side of Green’s truck and struck up a conversation. Hayward testified that the two were having a friendly discussion about their families when Green asked her how much money she would want to perform a sex act on him. He solicited sex a second time before the end of the 15-minute conversation, Hayward said.

Squad Car Arrived

When a Torrance police squad car finally arrived, Green started his engine and turned on his lights as if to leave the station, Hayward told the jury. “Then I heard a female officer say, ‘Don’t even try it,’ ” Hayward testified.

Hayward, who now lives in Florida, said she did not learn that Green was a police sergeant until a Times reporter contacted her about the incident several months later. She testified Tuesday that the Torrance Police Department report on the incident was incomplete. It failed to mention alleged sexual solicitation by Green or the fact that he almost collided with a gas pump.

But Sgt. Gary LaCroix, who also testified Tuesday, said Green did not receive special treatment. La Croix testified that he was called to the scene by two patrol officers, but that Hayward never told him anything about Green soliciting sex.

The patrol officers and LaCroix agreed that Green was under the influence of alcohol but decided that he should be driven home rather than arrested, LaCroix testified.

1985 Memo

Attorney Greene asked if a private citizen would have been driven home under the same circumstances.

“It could be done,” LaCroix said. “I have seen it on occasion that a person was driven home.” LaCroix said he had once driven an intoxicated citizen home, although he said he could not remember the exact circumstances.

Deputy Chief Jim Popp, the department’s second-in-command, was also questioned about why Green was not arrested for drunk driving.

In a 1985 memo to Chief Donald Nash, Popp wrote: “The facts in this case reveal that Sergeant Green did, in fact, drive a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.”

Not Enough Evidence

Popp testified Tuesday that there was enough evidence to convince him that Green was under the influence, but that did not necessarily mean there was enough evidence to obtain a criminal conviction. He said it might be difficult to prove that Green was driving, since the officers only observed him parked at the service station.

Following the incident, the department asked Green to enter an alcohol treatment program at South Bay Hospital, Popp’s memo said.

Perhaps the strongest testimony for the defense this week came from one of Green’s former neighbors, who said she saw no evidence that Green was drunk on the night he collided with Kelly Rastello.

Virginia Burns, a registered nurse, testified that she heard the crash and rushed to the intersection of Whiffletree Lane and Rolling Hills Road to see if she could help.

Burns said she checked on Rastello and saw there was little she could do to help the mortally wounded teen-ager. She then noticed Rollo Green standing in the intersection.

‘Very Steady’

“He was very steady,” Burns said. “He looked like a very strong, sturdy man. . . . I had seen nothing that led me to believe he was impaired.”

Lawyers for the Rastellos questioned Burns’ reliability, pointing out that she was a neighbor of Green’s and that their children had played together and that Burns was never close enough to Green to smell his breath or see his eyes.