LAPD Retiree May Be Forgery Probe Target : Police: Sources say grand jury is investigating allegations that a former detective faked a judge’s signature on a warrant in 1993.

In yet another embarrassment for the beleaguered Los Angeles Police Department, a county grand jury is investigating allegations that a veteran detective forged the name of a judge on a warrant, sources told The Times on Friday.

Raymond L. Doyle, who worked at the department’s Hollenbeck Division on the Eastside, allegedly committed the forgery two years ago, sources said. Confronted with the allegation, he retired rather than face an LAPD investigation or job-related discipline, sources familiar with the case said Friday.

“It’s potentially very serious and very embarrassing,” a source added.

The panel’s investigation means that, for the third time in about a month, the LAPD must confront allegations that current or former detectives have falsified evidence.

In taped comments first played Aug. 29 in Los Angeles Superior Court and since replayed around the world, former LAPD Detective Mark Fuhrman boasted of fabricating evidence, beating suspects and singling out minorities for mistreatment. Fuhrman’s comments included 18 passages in which he described police brutality and fabrication of evidence.

On Sept. 1, Police Chief Willie L. Williams announced that two 18-year veterans of the department, Detectives Andrew A. Teague and Charles Markel, had been suspended for falsifying evidence in a homicide case, forcing prosecutors to drop murder charges against two men and jeopardizing hundreds of other cases the two detectives investigated.

With the revelation Friday that Doyle was under investigation, officials stressed that he is no longer on the force and said the majority of LAPD officers do, in fact, abide by the rules.

“The commission is aware and has been briefed by the chief of the circumstances,” Police Commission President Deirdre Hill said, referring to Williams. But because of the veil of secrecy that shrouds all grand jury investigations, she added, “it is not at this time appropriate for us to comment about the specifics.”

“Our understanding is that the person you’re speaking of is no longer with the department,” she said. “Certainly the type of alleged behavior you’re describing is not acceptable and does not reflect a course of conduct of a majority of the LAPD.”

Hill declined to provide details of the investigation. Several sources, however, confirmed the specifics.

Doyle, a 25-year LAPD veteran, apparently had probable cause to obtain a warrant, sources said. But the name of a Los Angeles Municipal Court judge was apparently forged, sources said.

Details of the type of warrant--whether for a search or arrest--and the type of case in which it was sought were not available Friday.

One source said investigators believe that Doyle did go to the judge for a signature, but that “the judge had a long line and was busy.” The source added that investigators think Doyle then “took a shortcut that’s going to cause him some big-time grief.”

LAPD investigators discovered the apparent forgery during a “routine audit” and confronted Doyle, sources said. He resigned to avoid questioning by Internal Affairs detectives, sources said.

In September, 1993, according to county records, Doyle was granted a service pension.

Though the alleged forgery occurred two years ago, the grand jury apparently began calling witnesses within just the past few weeks, sources said.

Because the grand jury operates in secret, prosecutors declined comment--even on the existence of the investigation. “We can neither confirm nor deny any information about any matter involving a person by that name,” said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

Cmdr. Tim McBride, the LAPD’s spokesman, also declined comment.