Cops Marvel at Hardness of Robbery Suspect, 12

The city where we live.

* Cops in Southeast San Diego are still talking about the 12-year-old busted last week for allegedly using an ice pick to rob a 10-year-old at a video arcade of $1.

He allegedly wanted the money so he could play some video games and was calmly pushing the levers of a game called “Lethal Enforcer” when cops arrived.

He defiantly told cops that the 10-year-old had voluntarily given him the money, and he denied owning the ice pick, which was found atop the video game.

The victim told it differently: that the 5-foot-3 attacker pointed the ice pick at his chest and plucked the dollar bill from his shirt pocket.

The lad has a prior for auto theft. He may have pulled other robberies with the ice pick (including one for $3).

At a morning roster call, all 20 cops had either stopped him or heard about him.

Of course, he’s easily identifiable: with a tattoo “gangster” on his right arm and tattoos “sur” and “1920 38th” (the name of a notorious street gang) on his left. He’s now in Juvenile Hall charged with armed robbery.

Sgt. Dennis Johnson says he’s seen a lot in 22 years as a street cop, but he’s never seen a 12-year-old so hardened:

“He’s got all the trappings (including) the tattoos. He’s learned to be a bad guy with a weapon. I hate to think where his mind has been or where he’s going.”

Councilman Not Charged

* The city attorney’s office has decided not to prosecute Councilman George Stevens for his actions Aug. 30 during a disturbance at a park at the Willie Henderson Sports Complex.

But the city attorney’s explanatory letter falls short of a total exoneration.

Stevens reportedly crossed police lines and angrily tried to order police to reopen the park (they refused). The police labor union complained.

On Friday, Senior Chief Deputy City Atty. Susan M. Heath wrote to union attorney Christopher Ashcraft:

“While, as you say in your letter, certain of Stevens’ actions may have ‘bordered on’ interference or incitement, we conclude that his actions did not cross the line into criminal activity.

“Because San Diego Police Department officers at the incident responded in a highly professional, calm fashion, further violence at the park was avoided.”

Car Thieves Fall in Net

The new Regional Auto Theft Task Force got its first big score last week when three car thieves pleaded guilty and were sentenced to four to six years in prison.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Doug Rose says the theft ring was snatching Hondas, Toyotas and BMWs from shopping centers and UC San Diego, stripping the parts, then dumping the carcasses near Dulzura and San Ysidro.

One of the crooks bragged to an undercover cop that he personally was stealing 20 to 30 cars a month.

Other theft rings will be put out of business soon, Rose predicts. But, as the first big conviction, the task force will remember this case fondly.

Among the stolen cars was a Honda owned by Deputy Dist. Atty. Kris Anton, and the purported ringleader’s fingerprints were found on Anton’s car’s license plate.

Fair Play for Felons

More stuff.

* There’s a gag letter in the Silver Star, the publication of the Deputy Sheriffs Assn., that takes aim at Jimmy Wilkins, the special assistant to the sheriff.

Wilkins is in hot water for taking Las Colinas inmates for helicopter rides. Says the “letter”:

“This is in violation of all rules of conduct for the jails. If some inmates get rides, all get rides. We will be monitoring all future efforts to comply with this directive to get ALL INMATES helicopter rides.”

The letter is signed, “The ACLU.”

* Bumper sticker on a Mercury Sable, with a car phone: “Yep . . . Just Another Hippie in Disguise.”

* A Family Law Court judge moved last week to ensure that Leonard Eddington II will not profit from murdering his wife.

The judge nullified the 1988 divorce decree stipulation that had given Eddington total control over his wife’s estate, including her half-interest in their Jamul home. Vickie Eddington had disappeared in mid-1987.

The property interest and other assets can now be divided among the couple’s three children.

* Bumper sticker: “Space for Deadheads, Not Warheads.”

Spotted in Ocean Beach, naturally.