Chula Vista Officer Who Lied Quits Force

A veteran Chula Vista police sergeant who admitted that he lied to a district attorney’s investigator during an investigation of another officer who was charged with stealing 3 1/2 pounds of cocaine has resigned.

Sgt. Arnold Botts quit last week after submitting a brief resignation letter. Botts, 45, worked at the Chula Vista Police Department for 24 years. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Chief Rick Emerson did not return calls to his office, and the reason for Botts’ resignation is unknown.

However, while testifying before the county grand jury in May, Botts admitted that he lied to a district attorney investigator who was investigating George Hart.

Hart, a former Chula Vista narcotics officer and member of the South Bay Narcotics Task Force, was charged with eight felony counts, ranging from stealing cocaine to misappropriating money used in drug investigations.

Botts was Hart’s supervisor in 1987 when both served in the Chula Vista Crime Suppression Unit. Hart eventually admitted to police officials that he was addicted to rock cocaine. He overcame his addiction, then retired from the department.

After Botts’ grand jury appearance, at least one juror recommended that he be charged with lying to investigators. However, he was never charged.

According to Botts’ grand jury testimony, on two occasions he authorized Hart to check out the 3 1/2 pounds of cocaine that ended up missing. Although Botts gave Hart permission to check out the drug, Botts said he was never present when the cocaine was issued to Hart, ostensibly so it could be used in reverse stings.

But Botts’ problems arose from answers he gave to an investigator who questioned him about $1,303 that Hart transferred from the Narcotics Task Force to the Chula Vista Police Department. Three separate receipts, each carrying Botts’ signature, showed that the funds were turned over to the Police Department in March and October, 1989.

He said the money was used by police to pay informants and to purchase narcotics during investigations. Prosecutors alleged that Hart stole the money.

Botts testified to the grand jury that he had previously authorized Hart to sign his name on the receipts. However, when Hart was under investigation in December for criminal wrongdoing, Botts told an investigator that he had never seen the money that Hart transferred from the narcotics task force.

In his grand jury testimony, Botts said he lied to the investigator because “ . . . I was told it was going to be a dead-end investigation.”

In April, when it was evident that Hart was going to be indicted by the grand jury, Botts volunteered to a police supervisor that he had lied to the district attorney investigator. He offered the following explanation for acknowledging that he had lied.

“It was my understanding that . . . Hart was going to be blamed for stealing this money, and he did not steal it,” said Botts in his grand jury testimony.

The Chula Vista Police Department has been hit with internal problems in recent years. In addition to Botts’ and Hart’s legal problems, Nate Hines, another narcotics officer, gave another black eye to the department.

On Sept. 28, 1991, Hines, 34, an eight-year Chula Vista police veteran, pleaded guilty to single counts of grand theft and the sale of 55 pounds of ephedrine, which is used to manufacture methamphetamine.