Approval of Rampart Settlements Asked

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office is asking council members to approve settlements totaling more than $1 million in four more civil cases growing out of the Rampart Division police corruption scandal, according to city documents.

The payouts--which are expected to be considered by the council this month--will bring the city’s settlement totals in Rampart cases to $31 million.

In two of the cases, the claimants allege that they were set up by disgraced former officer Rafael Perez and then falsely imprisoned.

Roberto Andrade, who is set to receive $400,000, claims that Perez and his then-partner, Nino Durden, searched his apartment without his consent, finding cocaine and a marijuana plant that he says belonged to his brother.

According to court papers filed by the district attorney’s office, Perez said that he and Durden stole about $1,000 from Andrade’s apartment and that parts of their arrest report were false. Andrade was convicted of two drug charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He served two years before his conviction was overturned in April.

In the second case, Olga Alatorre--who was with Andrade at the time of the incident--claims that she was illegally searched and then threatened by Perez. She was convicted of possession of cocaine and sentenced to four years in prison. She ended up serving almost three years before she was released and deported to Mexico. The city attorney’s office is asking that the council pay her $400,000.

Since April, council members have settled 42 Rampart-related lawsuits, with the largest single payout totaling $15 million. There are more than 70 lawsuits and 80 claims still pending against the city. City attorneys have estimated that the payouts in the police corruption scandal could top $125 million.

“We are trying to achieve reasonable settlements in all of these cases where we feel we are liable,” said Chief Assistant City Atty. Thomas Hokinson. “We are addressing the cases as they come up and trying to resolve them as quickly as possible.”

At today’s council meeting, the city lawyers plan to ask council members to approve a $225,000 settlement for two other men, Nabil Hasan and Joseph Tenorio.

Hasan was arrested by Perez for allegedly having a loaded handgun in the trunk of his car. Perez has since told investigators that the gun was not loaded and that he fabricated that allegation in his arrest report.

Tenorio, who was a minor at the time he was arrested, claims that another Rampart officer wrongly accused him of wearing gang attire and associating with gang members. Based on the false allegations, Tenorio was found to be in violation of his probation and ordered to spend 13 months incarcerated at St. John’s School for Boys.