Officer Gets 12 Days in Jail for False Arrest of Youth
A Los Angeles policeman pleaded no contest Thursday to a misdemeanor count of filing a false police report and was sentenced to 12 days in jail for arresting a teen-ager on a trumped-up gun charge.
In addition, Los Angeles Municipal Court Judge Veronica Simmons placed Officer Jerry Cradduck on nine months’ probation. After the patrolman entered his plea, Simmons dismissed two other charges--false imprisonment and false arrest--in an apparent plea bargain.
Cradduck was one of several officers who chased three suspected gang members through the Estrada Courts housing project in East Los Angeles on Sept. 28, 1990.
The 17-year-old was charged with a weapons violation based on Cradduck’s report that said he saw the youth drop a gun during the pursuit. A gun was found near the scene. The teen-ager was held in Eastlake Juvenile Hall for 12 days until prosecutors determined that, based on Cradduck’s report, it would have been impossible for the officer to see the youth drop the gun.
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