Aide to Councilwoman Walters Arrested on Drug Charges
An 18-year-old aide to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Rita Walters was arrested in an abandoned South Los Angeles house early Friday on suspicion of rock cocaine possession, authorities said.
Dontae Marshall, who was working part-time for the councilwoman in her field office, was arrested by Los Angeles police officers responding to a tip about drug use at the house on West 83rd Street.
“I was shocked on the one hand and devastated on the other,” Walters said. “To see a young life get caught up in this is hurtful. It is sad, very sad.”
Walters hired Marshall in November 1996 as part of a program sponsored by his alternative school, Youth Opportunities Unlimited. When that program ended, Walters said, she kept him on because he was a solid worker.
Marshall earned $7,800 a year for answering phones, filing and computer processing. He also continued his classwork at the school and appeared to be near graduation, Walters said, adding that she urged him to attend college.
Marshall was being held in lieu of $20,000 bail, police said. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.
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