South Pasadena Officer Enters No-Contest Plea

Even as prosecutors stressed that investigations remain open, the only criminal charge stemming from a pair of South Pasadena Police Department scandals ended Friday as an attorney entered a no-contest plea on behalf of a politically connected officer whose hit-and-run crash was allegedly covered up by his colleagues.

Scott D. Ziegler, who has been on paid leave and faces dismissal from the force, was not in the courtroom Friday as his attorney, Darryl Mounger, entered the plea to one misdemeanor count of hit-and-run.

Although Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Grosbard said he initially wanted jail time for Ziegler, he agreed to a plea bargain he said was hammered out by Pasadena Municipal Court Judge Elvira Mitchell. One count of misleading a police officer was dismissed, and Ziegler was placed on one year’s summary probation and will have to required to pay $600 in court costs and fines and perform 120 hours of community service.

It was a quiet ending to Ziegler’s criminal case, but his car crash continues to plague the 54-member department. Chief Thomas Mahoney went on sick leave after The Times reported on the case this summer, and he has since filed a worker’s compensation claim against the city.

Two investigations into the department remain open. The district attorney’s anti-corruption squad is probing the department, as is a firm hired by the city.

Grosbard said the case will continue to haunt Ziegler. If he ever again takes the stand as a witness, Grosbard said, his honesty can be questioned because he was charged with misleading a police officer.

Mounger said he is contesting the city’s attempt to fire Ziegler.

The crash occurred Sept. 8, 1995, when Ziegler was speeding down Pasadena Avenue in a Camaro registered to his father-in-law, former South Pasadena Mayor Ted Shaw. The car clipped a parked Honda, and Ziegler stopped, but quickly drove off, Grosbard said.

Ziegler initially denied involvement, but later admitted his role in the collision, Grosbard said. Mahoney was on vacation at the time, and the acting chief fired Ziegler, according to internal city documents. Two other officers were disciplined in what Mahoney, in a confidential memo, described as “an off-duty drunk driving incident.”

Mahoney hired Ziegler back after promising city officials he would present the case to prosecutors and require Ziegler to reimburse the owner of the damaged car. That apparently was not done, officials say, and Ziegler’s name was left off a police report until The Times inquired about the case in August.

In the past several months, South Pasadena has also suffered a police sex scandal and two embezzlement cases involving city officials.