Assembly Officer, 2nd Man Face Drug Charges : Crime: The two are arrested in Encino after cash and cocaine are allegedly found in state-owned vehicle.

A sergeant-at-arms for the California Assembly is facing charges of possession of drugs for sale after allegedly being caught with cocaine and cash in a state-owned Cadillac, authorities said Saturday.

Donald Perry Thompson, a sergeant-at-arms assigned to the Assembly Rules Committee office in Los Angeles, was arrested Friday night in Encino along with a companion, Nicholas Robert Brown, who also faces drug charges.

Police refused to release any details or even give the ages of the suspects or Brown’s occupation.

But sources said that more than 30 grams of cocaine and an undisclosed amount of cash were found in the late-model Cadillac when the car was pulled over by police after a tip from members of a citizens’ patrol who were suspicious of the pair.

Thompson’s job as sergeant-at-arms includes chauffeuring Assembly Speaker Willie Brown and other members of the Assembly when the politicians are in Los Angeles.

“He sometimes drives for the Speaker,” said Darolyn Davis, press secretary for Brown.

A Cadillac and two Buicks are assigned to the Rules Committee office in Los Angeles for the use of members of the Assembly, according to Davis.

About 80 sergeants-at-arms work for the Legislature, most of them in Sacramento, with only three stationed in the Los Angeles Assembly rules office.

Sergeants-at-arms are sworn state peace officers and provide security for meetings and hearings of the Assembly. But the jobs are widely seen as political patronage positions, and the sergeants are sometimes considered gofers for members of the Assembly and are required to run routine errands for their politician bosses.

Thompson and Nicholas Brown each paid a bail of $15,000 and are scheduled to appear in court May 4 to answer to the felony charges.

The Cadillac, which was impounded by the Los Angeles Police Department, was released to a state police officer Saturday.

Detectives from the West Valley Division made the arrest about 11 p.m. near Ventura Boulevard and Yarmouth Avenue after being radioed by members of a volunteer surveillance group, according to Steve Getzoff, founder of the group.

About 20 members of the group were working with police to help crack down on a string of auto burglaries along Ventura Boulevard, according to Getzoff.

City Councilwoman Laura Chick, who represents the area where the arrests were made, called the incident ironic and depressing.

She said: “Here we have citizens that feel they have to work with the LAPD to make their neighborhoods safer, and here they are working with police who catch and arrest a state peace officer. It’s disgusting.”

Times staff writers Jim Newton and Carl Ingram contributed to this story.