2 S.D. Officers Charged With 3 Kidnapings

Two San Diego police officers were arrested at police headquarters Thursday morning and charged with kidnaping and robbing three illegal aliens during downtown patrols last year.

Officers Lloyd J. Hoff Jr. and Richard P. Schaaf later appeared in San Diego Municipal Court, where, dressed in dark blue jail garb, they entered not-guilty pleas to five felony counts each of kidnaping, kidnaping for robbery and robbery.

If convicted, each could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Although the officers were not charged with assaulting the three undocumented migrant workers, a court affidavit filed in the case alleges that Hoff swung his flashlight and struck one of the Latinos in the testicles, then pushed him into a puddle of water.

Municipal Judge Timothy W. Tower ordered the officers held without bail, at least until a bail review hearing could be held this morning.

The officers, who police officials said were fired Thursday, did not speak during the brief court appearance Thursday afternoon. But their defense attorneys blasted the San Diego County district attorney’s office, charging that it had a “vendetta” against the officers and did not have the courage to recognize that the charges are unfounded.

The defense attorneys said the alleged victims in the case cannot be trusted, noting that one of them is in County Jail at El Cajon on theft charges.

“It’s stupid, it’s grandstanding,” said James Gattey, who represents Hoff. The officers “have been working every day at the front counter at the police station. They’re no flight risk.”

Everett Bobbitt, who is Schaaf’s attorney, added: “These officers are totally devastated. They couldn’t understand why these charges were brought. They’re both married, with kids. They both have roots in this community.”

Michael R. Pent, a deputy prosecutor in the district attorney’s special operations unit, said his office has no hidden agenda in bringing the case against the policemen.

“I put that in the category of balderdash and poppycock,” he said. “It’s absolutely rank emotionalism. These cases were evaluated based on the facts, and that allegation is absurd.”

Hoff, 27, was hired by the San Diego Police Department in December, 1985, and his partner, 29-year-old Schaaf, was hired in March, 1986.

Both officers, assigned to the central station, which covers the downtown district, are white, a fact that some San Diego civil rights activists cited in alleging that racial discrimination against Latino migrants is rising.

“That’s good news that the police are finally doing this,” attorney Marco Lopez, who often represents migrant workers in lawsuits, said when he learned that two officers had been arrested for crimes against migrants.

“Whenever you have a vulnerable type of people such as this, you’ll have these kinds of abuses,” Lopez said. “And, because of their vulnerability, the officers are oftentimes not prosecuted and the complaints oftentimes not taken seriously.”

Roberto Martinez, another San Diegan active in civil rights issues for Latinos, said the Hoff-Schaaf case is another example of “hate crimes” perpetrated by law enforcement authorities.

“We’re going to start classifying them all as hate crimes, whether they wear a uniform or not,” he said. “These are Latinos being attacked by white people. There’s just too much of this going on, people taking advantage of illegals because of their status and the color of their skin.”

He said he was frustrated last August when he investigated an unrelated complaint that 10 aliens were rounded up by three San Diego officers at a drop house near 30th Street and Imperial Avenue.

“They lined these guys up and went through their pockets,” Martinez said. “All the Mexican money they threw in the trash, and the American money they stuffed in their pockets, about a little over $500.”

Martinez said the Police Department’s internal affairs unit declined to investigate those allegations because the aliens were apparently turned over to U.S. Border Patrol officials, and no local arrest report was ever made.

Police officials said they are precluded from publicly discussing internal affairs investigations such as those raised in Martinez’s allegations.

But, in the case of Hoff and Schaaf, police spokesman Capt. Dick Toneck said he believes the department’s handling of the situation shows that the department is tough on officers who abuse minorities.

“We’re not going to tolerate this kind of conduct from our officers,” he said, “and no officers on our department will condone this kind of activity.”

Toneck said this is the most serious case he can recall of an on-duty officer being charged with felony offenses, except for the highly publicized case against Craig Peyer, a California Highway Patrol officer convicted of slaying a young woman in 1987.

“It is an unusual and a rare occurrence,” Toneck said. “What else can I say? I hope we don’t have anything like this happen again.”

Police Chief Bob Burgreen said: “This should send a message to our entire community that this Police Department will not tolerate any acts of misconduct of this type. We will investigate every allegation of misconduct. If officers are engaging in illegal activity, they will be prosecuted, and strong discipline will be taken.”

According to a court affidavit filed by Vicente Villalvazo, a police internal affairs officer, the following events occurred:

Hoff and Schaaf were on duty, in uniform, in a marked patrol car when they contacted Rolando Carrera-Reyes, 23, about 2 a.m. on Aug. 4, walking in the 300 block of 5th Avenue.

They searched him and removed his wallet, and both officers tore up miscellaneous papers found inside. They also removed $25 and a medical identification card from the wallet.

“Hoff struck Carrera-Reyes twice in the testicles with the flashlight,” the affidavit says. “Both officers swore at Carrera-Reyes.”

He was driven by the officers to a loading dock area near 825 Imperial Ave.

“Hoff exited the patrol car and used his flashlight to search the surrounding area,” the court document says. “Hoff then removed Carrera-Reyes from the car and struck him in the testicles and left hand with the flashlight.

“Hoff ordered Carrera-Reyes to remove his shoes, which Hoff then threw into a puddle of water. Hoff then threw Carrera-Reyes into the puddle. Hoff and Schaaf drove away, keeping the wallet containing the money and medical card.”

The second incident allegedly occurred about 1 a.m. Aug. 12, when the officers purportedly stopped Javier Perez-Gonzalez and Ramiro Rodriguez, both 21, near 500 C St. The migrants said the officers ordered them into the patrol car and drove them to an area near 9th Avenue and Imperial, where Hoff took $41, loose change and a cigarette lighter from Perez-Gonzalez.

The affidavit says Perez-Gonzalez was then ordered to leave the area, and Rodriguez was taken to an area of railroad tracks near a dead end at 4th Avenue and Imperial. Rodriguez said he was ordered to remove his shoes, which he did, and that he was robbed by Schaaf of about $100 and a black comb.

Rodriguez also was ordered to leave the area. He and Perez-Gonzalez then met each other at the downtown bus depot, and went to police headquarters about 5 a.m., where they filed a citizen’s complaint against the officers.

The defense attorneys denied the seriousness of the allegations, and said that, were it not for the fact that police officers were allegedly involved, no criminal charges would have been sought.

“When you shake it all down, all you have at best is a petty theft,” Bobbitt said.

He and Gattey also contended that the district attorney was having problems securing the cooperation of the illegal aliens in the case, which is why the arrests of the officers took so long.

Pent, the prosecutor, declined to say how willing the undocumented workers were to pursue the charges against the officers. He did say his office is certain it can win the case “at this time.”

He asked the judge for a speedy court schedule, a sign the defense attorneys said shows that Pent is worried about not having the full cooperation of the victims.

But Pent said “the problem is the status of the victims. The victims are illegal aliens, and it’s difficult to maintain the stability of these individuals in this community. That’s why this case has taken so long.”