LAPD Station Apologizes to CHP for Shooting : Law enforcement: Accused Los Angeles officers reportedly tell friends they were aiming at street signs.

Two Los Angeles police officers accused of shooting wildly at a highway patrolman have told friends they were firing at signs and did not see the officer, department sources said Friday.

Embarrassed by the Wednesday afternoon incident, the officers’ colleagues at the department’s 77th Street Station mailed a letter Friday to the California Highway Patrol, expressing their support.

“We want you to know that it is with respect and admiration that we send this letter of support and encouragement,” the officers wrote. “Please know that your professionalism, integrity and courtesy is greatly appreciated by your fellow police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department.”

The letter was signed by virtually every officer who works at 77th Street and concludes: “Be safe and know we are all out there together protecting and serving the public and each other.”

The two off-duty officers allegedly involved in the shooting, Michael V. Herrera and Ted S. Teyechea, have declined to comment. But colleagues said the two officers have told friends that they were firing their guns at street signs and did not see CHP Officer Scott Wall, who had stopped to write a ticket. Wall, an eight-year veteran of the CHP who works motorcycle patrol in South-Central Los Angeles, was unavailable for comment Friday.

Herrera and Teyechea have acknowledged that they were drinking after getting off work on the day of the incident, colleagues said.

Herrera, according to law enforcement sources, registered a 0.14% blood-alcohol level when tested after his arrest. Teyechea, who was the passenger in Herrera’s truck at the time of the shooting, refused the test.

Three pistols and a number of spent shell casings were recovered from the truck when Herrera and Teyechea were arrested. Several slugs also have been recovered, and investigators are attempting to match those slugs with the weapons, according to authorities.

If the officers can show that they were shooting at signs, not people, it could reduce their criminal liability for the incident. As it is, the officers could be sentenced to as much as five years in prison if they are convicted of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer. Moreover, prosecutors could add charges if investigators turn up supporting evidence.

Even if the officers could show that they did not fire at the CHP officer, they would almost certainly lose their jobs if they were found to have drunkenly fired weapons in public--a serious breach of LAPD rules.

The letter from their 77th Street colleagues is unusual, and reflects the sensitivity of the shooting incident as well as the legacy of the 1991 beating of Rodney G. King, which not only drew bitter denunciation from across the country but also created a deep rift between the LAPD and Highway Patrol. In that case, CHP officers accused their LAPD counterparts of using excessive force, while LAPD officers blamed a husband-and-wife CHP team for using sloppy tactics that allowed the incident to degenerate.

Eager to avoid a repeat of the bruised feelings in that case, Police Chief Willie L. Williams and his senior command staff have paid visits to their CHP counterparts, including Wall.

As the LAPD sought to mend fences with the Highway Patrol, others questioned whether the two arrested officers had received special treatment--either in terms of the allegations they were booked for or the bail set for them.

Some police critics suggested that the officers should have been booked for attempted murder, rather than assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, and that they should have been held on much higher bail.

“If an African American youth from the ‘hood had been taken into custody under these circumstances, the charge would have been attempted murder in the first degree, there would have been no bail and probably there would have been a confession by now,” said Stephen Yagman, an attorney known for filing police abuse cases. “This is typical of the knee-jerk law enforcement attitude to always favor police when police get in trouble.”

Herrera and Teyechea were initially given a bail of $25,000, but that was lowered to $5,000, allowing them to post bond. Legal experts agreed that $5,000 was a low bail, but also noted that the officers have clean histories, families and strong ties to their communities.

“The purpose of the bail is to assure their appearance, not to punish,” said Harland W. Braun, a prominent Los Angeles defense attorney who represented Officer Theodore J. Briseno, who was acquitted of federal civil rights charges in the King beating. “These guys aren’t going to run.”

Sheriff’s deputies declined to comment on the charges or the bail, but prosecutors will have the chance to review the case and decide what charges are appropriate. The officers have been scheduled for arraignment March 3.