Police ‘Sting’ Figure Found in Missing Car

A former Hawthorne police sergeant who drew nationwide attention with a televised “sting” operation conducted to expose alleged police racism was found unconscious in a car that former football star Jim Brown had reported stolen, Los Angeles police said Tuesday.

Don Jackson was discovered late Monday in a 1985 Pontiac Fiero parked next to a Los Angeles International Airport terminal, said Police Cmdr. William Booth.

Jackson was not arrested, but police were trying to determine whether a crime had been committed. Booth said the stolen-car report “appears to be the fruits of a family dispute.”

Jackson said he had “nothing to do” with the car being stolen.

Jackson said that on Tuesday he went to the airport to pick up Brown’s daughter, Brandy Love, whom he said was a friend.

“I became extremely ill and nauseated and passed out as I got out of the car,” Jackson said.

He was treated at Daniel Freeman Marina Mercy Hospital for an inflammation of the stomach and released, a hospital spokesman said.

Brown could not be reached for comment.

Jackson gained national attention last January when an NBC television news crew surreptitiously photographed a white Long Beach policeman as he appeared to slam Jackson’s head through a shop window.