Bad Cops Archives - Friends For Fullerton's Future

February 15, 2026February 18, 2026Ahmad Zahra

The Marovic Drama Resurfaces

Here’s a fun item on Tuesday’s Closed Session calender.

And some backstory for the uninitiated:

Meet the new proprietor, same as the old proprietor…

Three and a half years ago, Mario Marovic, who owns the building on the northeast corner of Commonwealth and Harbor, agreed to a deal with the City to remove the City’s (formerly Florentine’s) notorious “bump out” encroachment that was stuck onto the side of his structure, on the public sidewalk – a space he didn’t own and was making improvements to at the time.

The idea, I suppose, was to get Marovic to rid the public sidewalk of the illegal room addition without the City having to pay for it and answer embarrassing questions; and Marovic would get to open his fake Irish pub, a facility whose CUP drawings included the bump out. Happiness all around, right? Only a couple decades late.

Wrong.

It turns out that Marovic never had any intention of demolishing the bump out. The deal required demolition to start March 2023, three years ago. Of course Marovic has done absolutely nothing except submit a claim for damages to the City provoking a lawsuit that has dragged on for over a year.

Zahra Congratulates Marovic for his lawsuit…against us.

Will this saga finally be over on Tuesday? Don’t bet on it. The City is always diffident in these matters, going so far as “Dr.” Ahmad Zahra mugging with the scofflaw and giving him some sort of certificate of appreciation; but Marovic isn’t the diffident sort. He may be tired of paying legal bills, but there’s almost nothing stopping him from resetting the clock and beginning a whole new delay cycle.

January 26, 2026January 26, 2026A Step in the Right Direction

Fullerton Women Hurl Abuse At ICE Goons

by Joe Sipowicz54 Comments

Over at the Orange Juice Blog, the estimable Vern Nelson shares, among many ICE-related issues, a video of ICE thugs being escorted out of an apartment complex in Fullerton. Their exit was not accompanied by heartfelt thanks for keeping the nation safe.

Open Thread: Fullerton Chingonas Chase ICE away, rail at FPD! (And more. In progress.)

Apparently the immigration cops were chasing some dude who they allege had a gun.

The Fullerton cops got involved in some unclear way and have been accused of assisting ICE – a no-no in Fullerton, I guess. The FPD chief denies his men were assisting ICE. The eye witnesses disagree. More on that, later.

March 17, 2025March 17, 2025Bad Cops

Another Police Shooting Fatality

by Joe Sipowicz34 Comments

According to the Fullerton Police Department, their employees killed another person Saturday night.

Responding to a domestic dispute call in the 700 block of West Orangethorpe Avenue the cops arrived on the scene and discovered a 19 year old male “matching the description” on the sidewalk. Here’s the tale from the press release:

Despite repeated commands from officers, the suspect was noncompliant. In a sudden turn of events, he lifted his shirt and pulled what appeared to be a handgun from his waistband, prompting an officer-involved shooting.

Officers immediately began life-saving measures until paramedics arrived, but the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. A pellet gun, closely resembling a Smith & Wesson handgun, was recovered near the suspect.

Oh, no. Another one of those dreary FPD press releases that always sound like an immediate exculpation rather than a simple statement of the bare facts

At the point of first contact the cops confronted a guy who may or may not have done anything wrong. We know he wasn’t juiced because if he had been the statement would have said so. There goes Excuse Option One.

We don’t know what those “commands” given by the police were, of course, or even if they were reasonable. It will be interesting to see and hear what sort of dialog ensued during this confrontation. Was it calming, or was it the sort of thing that might prompt escalation?

Then there was “…a sudden turn of events.” What is this a high school creative writing class? For some as yet unknown reason this young man decided on the ever popular Excuse Option Number Two: suicide by cop. The inevitable “waistband” is deployed by the cop writer, although the PR had earlier stated that the culprit had been waving a knife at Dad at the incident address. I’m not sure who wanders around with a pellet gun shoved in his pants but there was one, apparently that (closely!!) resembled a Smith and Wesson handgun.

We will be comforted to know that all will be revealed within 45 days via one of those Critical Incident Community Briefing Video.

December 27, 2024December 27, 2024Bad Cops

Legos And Transfiguration

by Joe Sipowicz42 Comments

You can’t make this stuff up. Here’s a press release from DA Todd Spitzer’s office detailing the killing of a driver by Anthony Michael Hanzal, 43, of Anaheim, a drug-addled petty thief who was chased by Fullerton police for shoplifting some Legos from an Albertson’s the week before Christmas.

An undercover cop called in the crime and uniformed cops took over the pursuit of the big heist perp.

The pursuit turned into a high-speed chase on the 91 and in Buena Park and La Palma where the petty thief ran a red light and t-boned the car of his victim.

How in the world did a few bucks worth of plastic culminate in the death of a 67 year old woman in La Palma? Pretty obviously some poor decisions were made all around, but you have to wonder why the cops had to convert this almost ridiculous episode into a chase endangering an awful lot of people and resulting in a death and who knows how many tens of thousands of dollars in vehicle damage.

Somebody needs to do some hard thinking about this sort of thing. Will they?

Of course no OC DA press release would be complete without a stupid speech from Todd Spitzer, and he doesn’t fail to oblige us with this no-nonsense, tough on crime pabulum:

Funny plastic handcuffs graphic borrowed from Voice of OC

“Enough is enough. Actions have consequences and I am mad as hell that an elderly woman is dead because a drug addicted repeat thief decided to steal Legos from a grocery store and then lead multiple police agencies on a high-speed chase through Orange County in the middle of the day,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Marianne Casey’s family should be planning their holiday celebrations and instead they are planning a funeral because California’s soft-on-crime policies have created an environment where there is no accountability. Those days are over, and while may be of little comfort to Marianne Casey’s loved ones, if you commit crimes in Orange County, there will be consequences for your actions and there will be justice for victims.”

Ironically Ms. Casey is referred to as “elderly” even though she was only a year or so older than Spitzer himself when a completely unnecessary incident ended her life.

November 1, 2024November 1, 2024Bad Cops

Hubris at the Observer

by Grover Cleveland64 Comments

You really have to hand it to the Kennedy sisters, Skaskia and Sharon. They are on the verge of perfecting dumbass hypocrisy.

Patsy Markowitz. Left holding the empty bag.

For weeks and weeks they ignored the obviously phony 4th District candidacy of Scott Markowitz and made every effort to dismiss it as a non-story. When Marko was scooped up by the District Attorney and charged with perjury all they did was repost the DAs press release. When Marko plea bargained they then began to delete comments that questioned their obvious dereliction and bias.

When they finally reported the story of Markowitz’s guilty pleas, it was in their print edition – where nobody could comment at all, and where they continued to pretend that the fake MAGA candidate, hand-held by Democrat operative Ajay Mohan, was a real candidate, now dropping out, instead of what everybody knew was true: Markowitz was a plant to take votes away from Linda Whitaker to the benefit of Observer favorite, Vivian Jaramillo. The unstated implication was clear: Marko acted alone and any other conclusion was a Bushala conspiracy theory.

What all of this really means is that the Observer Sisters, despite their self-righteous posturing as an “independent news” operation, is just the opposite. Recent FFFF readers started catching on watching their performance on the Trail to Nowhere and the moronic Wilt on Wilshire where the two studiously omitted passing on relevant facts, but actively engaged in drumming up support for their cherished boondoggles.

Why write about news when you can try to make your own! (Photo by Julie Leopo/Voice of OC)

Longer term Observer observers, of course, long ago cottoned on to the preachy sanctimony and bias of the Observers, noting the disparagement, snide innuendo, and outright lies aimed at their supposed political enemies. It’s been going on for 45 years and was the stock-in-trade of the paterfamilias, Ralph Kennedy. Just a week or so ago, while they were deleting comments they permitted a salacious and defamatory comment about Councilman Fred Jung.

Of course nobody is forced to go to the Observer blog, and except for the unintended comedy, errors, misspellings and factual errors and omissions, there really is no reason. Ditto the print edition that is still killing trees for absolutely no reason. On the other hand there is no reason anybody has to treat the Observer even with the modicum of respect one might give a legitimate news outlet.

August 29, 2024Bad Cops

Grab Her!

by The Desert Rat16 Comments

Here’s a fun video harvested from youtube.

Aren’t you a good citizen?

August 2, 2024August 5, 2024Bad Cop

The Charge of the Light Brigade

by Mr. Peabody60 Comments

So, according to the article these ponies and their associated costs are to be paid for by the cops themselves. Their horsing around to take place in addition to their regular duties. This makes one feel less aggrieved about the maintenance cost, but I have to wonder if this implies additional pay since the union would not like their boys working for free. Perhaps this is considered to have PR value.

Believe it or not, Fullerton now has an equestrian cop unit.

What’s that you say? Why? Why the Hell on Earth?

I don’t know why, but I know it’s true because Orange County Register thief/scribe Lou Ponsi says so. You may remember Lou from his role as apologist for the FPD after six of their gang murdered Kelly Thomas in July, 2011. Before that he gained local fame by stealing a story from FFFF and pretending it was his.

Why, during the influx of an immense ocean of red ink Fullerton has assembled a horse troop is beyond me. Horses need to be fed, sheltered and given adequate veterinary care (one hopes), and the use of them on Fullerton trails is completely unnecessary. Five cops on ponies is five less than could be patrolling Fullerton’s streets. (See addendum, above)

Will these bold equestrians be patrolling the Trail to Nowhere? Of course not.

Maybe they’re there for riot control, since a 900 lbs. horse is a substantial deterrent to all those rioters Fullerton deals with on a regular basis.

Whatever the the pretext for this nonsense, one wonders if this deployment was actually approved by our City Council. It hardly matters, does it?

I love the cowboy hats. A true sign that the spirit of the Old West, despite Doc Heehaw’s plea for “New West” behavior, is alive and well.

August 1, 2024August 1, 2024Ahmad Zahra

She’s In! The Return Of Jan Flory

by The Fullerton Harpoon26 Comments

A week or so ago FFFF reported that Jan Flory, the elderly, humorless scold who has been on the Fullerton City Council three times had taken out nominating papers to run this fall in the 2nd District.

FFFF rejoiced.

We didn’t necessarily think she’d go through with it, what with her pushing 80 years old, her historic constituency dying off, and running against the popular and well-financed Mayor, Nick Dunlap. Still the prospect of having Flory around gave hope for all sorts of blogging fun – once again reciting her horrendous pro-tax, pro-corruption record.

And now we learn that Mrs. Flory has indeed returned her nominating papers and is in the process of creating a new campaign committee.

Well, done, Jan, say I. Your record of “public service” is in a class by itself.

You were the one who approved the budget busting 3@50 retroactive pension bonanza to cops and paramedics.

You were the one who enthusiastically supported the illegal water tax.

You were the one who supported Measure S, the foolish sales tax effort.

You were the one who supported the ill-conceived Utility Tax, and wished it had been double,

You were the one who approved years of red ink budgets and lied about them to the public.

You were the one who cut a slimy deal with Ahmad Zahra to deny the citizens of Fullerton a chance to vote on a replacement for Jesus Quirk Silva.

You were the one who refused to create a citizens commission to reform the Culture of Corruption in the Fullerton Police Department.

You were the one who defended the Three Bald Tires in the wake of the Kelly Thomas murder by the cops. You called them honorable men.

You were the one to sneer and deprecate your own constituents if they dared criticize or complain about the actions of your beloved “staff.”

You were the one to support every Redevelopment boondoggle and every massive, over-built apartment block.

And of course the list goes on and on and on.

And so once again, FFFF says thank you, God!

July 22, 2024July 22, 2024Bad Cops

Yelp, Says Michelle W.

by The Fullerton Shadow14 Comments

An amused Friend shared this Yelp review of lawyer Jan Flory, posted just about the time Flory was on the backstretch of her second lap around the Fullerton City Council track.

Don’t worry, Michelle. She never cared about us, her constituents, either. It’s always been about protecting the bureaucrats in City Hall – the ones she calls the “heart of the City; and protecting the Culture of Corruption in the Fullerton Police Department.

And I agree, Michelle. It’s too bad there isn’t a zero star option.

June 18, 2024June 18, 2024Bad Cops

Oops, They Did It Again

by Joe Sipowicz29 Comments

Looks likes Fullerton’s cops have dispatched another wacked out trouble-maker. A few months ago they performed the same duty at the McDonald’s over on Brookhurst St., although that fellow was only wielding a belt.

Here’s the FPD statement, another self-serving literary effort, short on details, but clearly suggesting that the police ‘feared for their safety.”

Fullerton Police Dispatch received a 9-1-1 call on June 15, 2024, at 5:04 am regarding a male armed with knives and threatening people in the 200 block of E. Imperial Hwy. The reporting party told the call taker he was a victim of weapon brandishing and to send multiple officers due to the male’s dangerous behavior.

Fullerton Police Officers arrived on the scene and contacted a male adult, matching the provided description, holding what appeared to be a knife in each hand. The male was directed multiple times to drop his weapons; however, he was uncooperative with the commands. The male suddenly began running towards officers with the knives in his hands and failed to comply with commands to stop. An officer-involved shooting then occurred.

Officers began life-saving measures while paramedics responded. The suspect was transported to a local trauma center, where he was later pronounced deceased. At this time, we have no information about any injuries to witnesses or potential victims of this incident. No officers were injured.

A knife and a boxcutter were located at the scene in close proximity to the suspect (pictured below).

Photos of the knives recovered at the scene of a Fullerton PD Officer Involved Shooting.

As standard protocol, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office responded to conduct an independent investigation into the actions of the officers during this officer-involved shooting. Fullerton Police Crimes Against Persons Detectives will investigate potential criminal acts committed by the suspect.

Per State Law, we will release all relevant videos, recordings, and images via a Critical Incident Community Briefing Video within 45 days.

The deceased suspect’s identity will be released by the Orange County Coroner.

This investigation is ongoing. Based on the initial 9-1-1 call, we believe there may be others who may have witnessed or been a victim to the suspect’s actions leading up to this incident. We encourage any additional witnesses or victims to contact Fullerton PD Detective L. Ramirez at (714) 738-5334. Those wishing to provide information anonymously can call the Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1(855) TIP-OCCS or can visit their website at http://www.p3tips.com/913.

Last time the police wasted the perp with the ironically named “less lethal” projectiles. Here, no mention is made of the weapon that killed the man.

Oh, well, with our dynamic DA Todd Spitzer, the cops’ best friend we may be sure a complete investigation will be performed with attaboys all around.