Fired Officer Is 7th to Leave in 4 Months

The Simi Valley Police Department has fired another officer, the seventh in four months to leave the department by termination or resignation, a police union official said.

Officer David Weiner, a nine-year veteran, was fired Friday after an internal investigation, said Det. John Rygh, president of the police officers’ union.

“It’s a personnel matter, and there is most probably going to be litigation regarding this,” said Lt. Tony Harper, a department spokesman, in refusing to discuss the action.

Neither Weiner nor his lawyer could be reached Tuesday for comment.

The Simi Valley Police Officers Assn.--which has backed at least one fired officer--declined to comment on the reasons for Weiner’s departure.

Weiner waived his rights to a departmental appeals hearing, Rygh said. That leaves the door open for Weiner to pursue administrative hearings through the city manager’s office or a lawsuit in the courts, Rygh said.

The departures began in October, when Officers Michael Cratch, Raymond Madden, Matthew McCord and Matt Hopkins quit after they were targeted by a grand jury probe into a pyramid scheme. Officer Paul Shreiner, another officer linked to the pyramid scheme investigation, was fired last month.

And officer David Steven Ming was fired in December over allegations of perjury, despite a jury’s verdict that he was not guilty of the charge. Then-union head Blair Summey criticized department commanders for ignoring the court’s not-guilty verdict and terminating Ming anyway.