Sheriff’s Department searches home of L.A. County supervisor

Good morning 🌞, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Thursday, Sept. 15. I’m Andrew J. Campa 👋🏼, a Metro reporter writing from the San Gabriel Valley (where the 210 Freeway goes to die 🪦).

It’s a rare scene when a powerful and influential figure is escorted by law enforcement outside her own home barefoot.

Yet that’s what happened a little after 7 a.m. Wednesday in Santa Monica when Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators searched the home of County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl as part of a criminal investigation.

[Read “L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl’s home searched by sheriff’s investigators,” in The Times.]

Our Alene Tchekmedyian (@AleneTchek) reported that the 81-year-old two-term supervisor, who is not seeking reelection, was served a search warrant and escorted out of her home wearing casual clothes and no shoes.

The scene dropped a few jaws.

Kuehl is a member of the five-person all-female Board of Supervisors, which helps control an annual budget of $39 billion in a county of more than 10 million people.

Just for comparison, the state of Arizona 🌵, with a little over 7 million residents, posted expenditures of $45.1 billion in 2021.

Kuehl’s third district is home to 2 million residents and includes Calabasas, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, North Hollywood, Reseda and Melrose.

What happened?

Superior Court Judge Craig Richman, who Kuehl alleged is an ally of Sheriff Alex Villanueva, signed off on a search warrant for Kuehl’s home. Warrants were also executed for the home and offices of Patti Giggans, who runs the nonprofit Peace Over Violence, an advocacy group that organizes against sexual, domestic and interpersonal violence. Sheriff’s deputies also searched the L.A. County Hall of Administration and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s headquarters.

What led to this?

The searches mark a new phase in a long-running Sheriff’s Department investigation into Peace Over Violence. Investigators are alleging an array of bribery and other crimes related to contracts that the county Metropolitan Transportation Authority awarded to the organization to operate a hotline for reporting sexual harassment on public transit. Investigators alleged that “bribery of a county supervisor” might have been committed. A former Metro employee, Jennifer Loew, said that Kuehl helped Peace Over Violence win a contract with the MTA. Kuehl said the accusation was “totally bogus” and that the Board of Supervisors didn’t vote on that matter.

What’s the context?

Critics of Villanueva claim the sheriff is using a secretive public corruption unit to target political enemies. Villanueva has denied this, saying he’s recused himself from the unit’s work. County Dist. Atty. George Gascón declined an invitation by Villanueva to create a joint-agency task force. Gascón, who survived a recall attempt supported by Villanueva, told The Times last year that the sheriff’s unit was “only targeting political enemies.” Both Kuehl and Giggans have clashed with Villanueva as members of the board and the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, respectively.

Quoted:

📢 “Sheriff’s Department. We have a warrant. We demand entry.” — sheriff’s deputy

📢 “These are Third World tactics. Vladimir Putin would be impressed.” — Patti Giggans’ attorney Austin Dove

[Read “L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl’s home searched by sheriff’s investigators,” in The Times.]

And now, here’s what’s happening across California:

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L.A. STORIES

A news conference is held at the Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles where rapper PnB Rock was slain.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Shortly after the shooting death of Philadelphia rapper PnB Rock at a South Los Angeles Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles, social media users blasted the restaurant and the surrounding community, with the latter described as “dangerous” and “ghetto.” Others said the musician should have dined at a “safer” Roscoe’s in Inglewood and chided the South Los Angeles location for its lack of security. Food Editor Daniel Hernandez visited the locale Tuesday and found an empty restaurant, with cooks and staffers still dedicated to producing quality soul food. Los Angeles Times

For the ninth time in 10 years, the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the National League West title, defeating host Arizona, 4-0, at Chase Field. This has become a golden era in Dodgers baseball as the team previously captured 11 West titles before this current run. Los Angeles Times

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced he was suing Amazon due to the giant’s anti-competitive behavior toward third-party sellers. Bonta alleges that California buyers have paid more for online purchases on Amazon because the e-commerce business has forced merchants to keep their prices artificially high. Amazon said the lawsuit would force the company to feature higher-priced products to consumers. Los Angeles Times

An appeals court ruled Monday that the State Water Resources Control Board lacked the authority to curtail some entities, including farms, from taking water out of nearby rivers. In 2015, the state stopped Central Valley farms from grabbing water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. The rivers provide two-thirds of California’s population with drinking water, and regulators believe that rules are needed to protect these bodies of water during this current drought. Sacramento Bee

CRIME, COURTS AND POLICING

Drugs obtained from Lexington Park have led to the overdose of 10 people over the last three weeks, including nine area students. The most recent episode included a teenage girl from Bernstein High School who died Tuesday night from an apparent fentanyl overdose. One additional student from Bernstein, one student from Hollywood High and an unidentified fourth victim were all hospitalized that evening. Los Angeles Times

The FBI is gathering information about a possible link among a dozen false reports of potential school shootings across California and Texas in the last week. On Wednesday alone, elementary and high schools in Antelope Valley, Chula Vista, Fresno and Santa Rosa suffered hoax calls. In each case, a single person called 911 reporting an active shooter. Los Angeles Times

HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

John Haasjes, shown at home in Tehachapi, was arrested in 2020 on suspicion of making a verbal threat. He languished in jail long after he was declared incompetent to stand trial.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

A Times investigation reveals neglect of incarcerated detainees, including some of the most vulnerable people in state custody. Officials have not sufficiently expanded state hospitals or community-based care options despite surging numbers of incompetent criminal detainees. Mentality ill patients who should have been sent to hospitals were left behind bars an average of 141 days in 2021, a stunning increase from 63 in 2019. The longer they stay imprisoned, the more their health deteriorates. Los Angeles Times

An experimental COVID-19 vaccine could outsmart future coronavirus variants. Scientists are testing out the vaccine with the aim of combating mutations in the spike protein by priming the immune system to recognize both the spike protein and a second — and far more stable — viral protein. So far, the vaccine has only been tested in small animals, but this bivalent vaccine provided stronger protection than alternatives that targeted only one of the proteins. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

There were taquitos and food trucks, financial traders and youngsters trying to figure out how to get rich quickly. Opening night at the Future Proof wealth festival featured outdoor panels, concerts and drinks. And it kicked off with an edict from one of the hosts: “Tomorrow, we rage. Tonight, we drink.” The future of corporate conferences played out for 2,200 attendees in Huntington Beach. Los Angeles Times

Converting old unused office buildings into apartments or condos is not new, but the appeal is growing as less office space is needed during the pandemic due to remote working. Once such building, the Crosby, was once the Western headquarters of oil giant Texaco. Now it offers a rooftop swimming pool with cabanas, fitness center, fire pits and a karaoke room. Rents range from $2,250 to $6,500. There are 2,300 underutilized office and hotel properties in Los Angeles County, with conversion potentially making a huge dent in the county’s housing needs. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles: 81, partly cloudy. San Diego: 75, partly cloudy. San Francisco: 68, partly cloudy. San Jose: 75, mostly sunny. Fresno: 85, sunny. Sacramento: 81, partly cloudy.

AND FINALLY

Today’s California memory is from Marty Campbell:

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