Police Chief, Wife Reach Settlement

Courthouse hallway negotiations led to an agreement that Pasadena Police Chief Jerry A. Oliver will pay his wife $3,750 a month in support and that she will move out of their home until their divorce is finalized, court records show.

Shuttling down the hall between Oliver and his wife, Jackie, attorneys reached the agreement Thursday, shortly before a Los Angeles Superior Court hearing.

“We’ve obtained what we were down here for,” Jackie Oliver’s attorney, Marvin M. Mitchelson, said after the hearing was canceled. “It’s a good support order.”

Jerry Oliver’s attorney, John Da Corsi, declined comment, saying, “I don’t talk to the press.”

The Olivers, who met in Memphis, Tenn., were married 14 months ago, shortly before Jerry Oliver assumed command of the police force. Both parties filed separate divorce actions in late May.

In her Superior Court declaration, Jackie Oliver, 29, a public relations specialist who said she is the chief’s fourth wife, claimed that her husband repeatedly abused her during their union.

She said her husband hit and shoved her on several occasions and had threatened to injure her. She also claimed that, to monitor her activities, Jerry Oliver placed electronic surveillance devices in the home, on her phone and in her car.

A 21-year veteran of police work, Jerry Oliver, 45, has denied all allegations in court documents. He could not be reached for comment.

Jackie Oliver--accompanied Thursday by her pastor, friends and supporters from a women’s center--said she was disappointed that the hearing was canceled.

“I was ready to get up there and tell what happened,” she said, declining to elaborate.