Woman Billed $10,848 for Homicide Probe : Police: Officials cite law on making homeowners pay for a second response to rowdy parties. An appeal is under way.

When West Covina police responded to a complaint about a rowdy bachelor party in February, they issued their standard warning: Keep the noise down. A return visit would mean the homeowner had to pay for the police expenses.

Two hours later, they returned. A 17-year-old party guest had been stabbed to death.

When the promised bill arrived last month, it was for $10,848 to cover the entire cost of the homicide investigation.

Homeowner Louise Peery, who was not at the party held by her 22-year-old son, is appealing to the City Council. “I can’t believe the city could be doing this,” the 62-year-old bookkeeper said. “I can’t afford this.”

The practice of charging residents for repeated police visits to unruly parties became common several years ago as cities began looking for innovative ways to cover expenses. But the West Covina case brings the practice to an apparently unprecedented level.

Representatives of law enforcement agencies throughout Los Angeles County said they have never heard of anyone being billed for a criminal case or of a tab close to $10,000 for any police response.

“Are we going to charge the Coliseum every time there’s a stabbing in its driveway?” asks Los Angeles Police Officer George Villegas, the department’s coordinator of complaints on loud parties. “We can’t do that.”

Since Los Angeles instituted its loud party ordinance in 1992, the largest bill issued has been for about $700, Villegas said, and there has never been a bill for a criminal investigation. He would reject any bill for such a large amount, he said.

“Responding as a result of a homicide has nothing to do with loud parties,” Villegas said.

But West Covina City Atty. Elizabeth L. Hanna said her city’s Police Department interpreted its police-billing ordinance properly. After the host of a noisy or unruly gathering is warned, the ordinance says, the city can charge for “special security assignment” of police. “I think what we did is justifiable,” she said.

Many cities throughout Los Angeles County have a “second-response” law that allows police to bill for responding more than once to the scene of a nuisance. Some cities have maximum amounts--often $500 or $1,000--they can charge property owners. The county allows the Sheriff’s Department to recover reasonable costs in unincorporated areas. West Covina, like several other cities, does not have a limit.

Peery maintains that she should not have to pay anything because she was not responsible for what happened.

During the course of the evening, 16 patrol officers and 13 investigators were sent to the home to investigate the stabbing and subsequent death of 17-year-old Daryl Smith, a West Covina High School student who was due to graduate this month.

According to police, Smith and another party-goer, Brian Stinson, 21, of Laguna Hills got into a fight over a tip for a stripper. Stinson put down a tip that Smith picked up, apparently intending to add to it, police said. Stinson thought Smith was trying to steal his money, police said, and the two fought. After the fight broke up, police said, Stinson attacked Smith with a knife, stabbing him 10 times. His trial on murder charges is scheduled for July 6.

Police contend that the party’s rowdiness contributed to Smith’s death; if the party had ended when police made their first visit, West Covina Police Chief John T. Distelrath said, there would have been no homicide and no expense to the city.

“It was needless. It didn’t have to happen,” Distelrath said.

But Louise Peery, a 35-year resident of the city, said she is not the one to blame.

“They don’t care about circumstance, about who is at fault,” she said. “It’s really scary.”

Peery’s son Dale said he had mailed out invitations to about 40 people and had told neighbors he was having a party. He also told neighbors that the music would end by 11 p.m. The band had stopped playing even earlier and the party was quiet when the stabbing occurred, he said.

Police paint a different picture.

“This wasn’t just another everyday bachelor party,” Distelrath said. Flyers were sent out and party-goers were charged a $10 entrance fee, he said. Underage people were drinking alcohol, strippers were present and no one took control of the party, the chief said.

The bachelor party began about 7 p.m. on Feb. 12, on Indian Summer Avenue, a quiet cul-de-sac. About 9:50, a medical student on the next street called police, complaining about the noise.

Twenty minutes later, two officers met Dale Peery outside the home, which he shared with his mother; he has since moved out. He was issued a notice of legal and fiscal liability and was warned to shut down the party or risk a fine if the police came out again.

Dale Peery said that he complied with police officers by telling the band to stop.

At 12:05 a.m., he called police to tell them someone had been stabbed at his house.

“We responded with just about everything we had,” said West Covina Police Cmdr. Jim Dillon, who said 11 patrol cars were immediately sent to the house.

Police concede that the billing is atypical. Normally, second-response bills cost the property owner about $600, Dillon said.

“Normally, a bill doesn’t involve a homicide,” he said. “This was an unusual circumstance.”

After reviewing West Covina’s ordinance, USC law professor Michael H. Shapiro said the law is cryptic and the city’s $10,000 bill “seems like a stretch.”

“It doesn’t look to me like this woman bore anything that looked like legal responsibility for this homicide,” he said. “What’s being done to her is a burden or a sanction that is disproportionate to anything she did.”

West Covina’s finance director takes a opposite view, saying it is an unfair burden on the taxpayer to absorb the cost for something a homeowner could have prevented.

“Every city (that has such a code) is trying to recover the cost of services beyond the regular call of duty,” said Abraham W. Koniarsky, the finance director.

The City Council last week took no action on her appeal, but Distelrath said he would meet with Peery to discuss the matter.

The stabbing victim’s parents, Linda and Martin Smith, said they agree with the city’s decision.

“Whoever lives in the house is responsible,” she said. “It’s a lot of money and she might not be able to afford it. But I’d rather have something to pay and still have a son.”