$237,500 Stolen From Police; Two Charged

A Police Department employee and her husband have been charged with stealing at least $237,500 from evidence lockers at two Los Angeles Police Department stations over the three-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, police and district attorney officials said Friday.

The two were arrested Tuesday, shortly after the thefts were discovered, said Cmdr. William Booth, but most of the cash still is missing.

The money came from “hundreds of cases” investigated by the 77th Street and Southwest police divisions, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Yochelson. He said an audit will determine if prosecution of those cases will be affected by the thefts.

“Normally, money isn’t admitted into evidence,” Yochelson said. Instead, both sides either stipulate to the amount involved in a case or photocopies are made of the cash evidence.

But, Yochelson said, “that relies on the assumption that the original (cash) is back in evidence” lockers. “We don’t know what effect this will have.”

The thieves apparently used a master key to enter the locked property rooms at the two police stations, authorities said. Once inside, they allegedly broke locks on two or three strongboxes and took evidence envelopes containing the cash. Nothing else was taken, authorities said.

Booth said the cash was taken sometime after 4 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 18, when the 77th Street and Southwest division property rooms were locked for the long weekend. The burglaries were discovered about 8 a.m. Tuesday, authorities said, when officers unlocked the doors and saw the broken strongboxes.

Later Tuesday, the suspects, Chandra Latoi Davis, 21, and her husband, Eric Anthony Davis, 22, were arrested at their Rowland Heights home. Chandra Davis had worked since May as a civilian clerk in the Police Department’s main property section at Parker Center, Booth said. He said she is suspected of taking the master key used to open the property room doors at the two outlying stations.

Booth said Eric Davis, who worked for a nationwide delivery service, was suspected of accompanying his wife during the burglaries. Lawyers for the Davises could not be reached for comment.

About $38,000 was discovered at the Davis’ home, but Yochelson said it has not been confirmed that the money was part of the stolen cash.

Booth said about $170,000 was taken from 77th Street and $67,000 from Southwest. Booth said auditors and detectives at Southwest should have a more definite figure next week on the amount missing from their station.

Booth said there have been few property room thefts, but added that plans were under way at the time of the thefts to increase security at older police stations. Security changes had been delayed, he said, by bureaucracy and lack of money.

The Davises were arraigned Thursday on burglary and grand theft charges. Bail was set at $300,000 for Chandra Davis and $250,000 for Eric Davis. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 5.

Times staff writer David Freed contributed to this story