Council Member Arrested in Uproar

In a strange, small-town political drama, Bell Gardens police rounded up a City Council member Wednesday for allegedly disturbing the peace, two days after a raucous public meeting ended with officers emptying the council chambers.

Councilwoman Maria S. Chacon was arrested at City Hall along with her husband, Jesse Chacon, police said. Each was held in custody for a few hours and then released.

Relatives of the Chacons said the arrests violated a basic right to free discourse at a public forum.

Police and city officials said the alleged crimes took place moments after Mayor David Torres abruptly adjourned Monday’s City Council meeting when a speaker refused to stop talking during the public comment phase.

The speaker, Rosa Cobos--Councilwoman Chacon’s sister--was not arrested. Cobos said she was criticizing the council for a proposal that would have cut funding to a Bell Gardens youth center.

“They pushed everybody out,” said Cobos. “The council called the police and told them to remove us.”

According to Cobos and another witness, several members of the audience began to yell at the council members that they should allow Cobos to continue speaking.

Police Chief Fredrick M. Freeman, who was at the meeting, called for police backup to restore order, officials said.

But as the officers cleared the chambers, Councilwoman Chacon objected to the meeting being terminated, Cobos said.

Once the officers had cleared the building, everyone went home, the incident apparently over.

Bell Gardens Police Lt. Paul Reuter said the Chacons were not arrested Monday because “we were conducting the investigation. It took us that long to interview the people involved.”

About 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Chacons were detained, booked and photographed at the Bell Gardens Police Department’s small jail facility on suspicion of disturbing the peace, obstructing a police officer and “using offensive language to provoke a violent reaction” from a peace officer, Lt. Reuter said.

The Chacons were released on their own recognizance. “The case will be presented to the district attorney’s office for review and criminal filing,” Lt. Reuter said.

Mayor Torres, Chief Freeman and the Chacons could not be reached for comment Wednesday.