An alert Friend reminded us today of a story that came to light last fall and that has eerie overtones of the subsequent Veth Mam case we have previously reported. The story is told in the OC Register, here.
Wouldn't hurt a fly...
The facts are simple. Even though an eye-witness ID’d another guy in a line-up, the Fullerton police arrested Emmanuel Martinez who unluckily just happened to be in the vicinity. Of course Fullerton “Officer” Miguel Siliceo told a hearing judge that he had indeed got the right guy and Martinez was locked up in the County jail for five long months awaiting the inevitable railroad job.
Martinez’s luck changed for the better when he got a public defender, Denise Crawford, who bulldogged the case. When audio evidence surfaced that proved Siliceo was telling tall tales, the DA, mirabile dictu, dropped the bogus charges against Martinez.
So Emmanuel can thank his lucky stars that he didn’t actually go on trial like Veth Mam, and then end up in state prison. And “Officer” Siliceo is lucky, too. Lucky he never had to perjure himself in front of a jury, and lucky he works for a police department where incompetence, and worse – felonious behavior are just par for the course.
How about the truth, if it's not too much trouble?
Of course the story wouldn’t be complete without the bland statement by FPD spokesassclown Andrew Goodrich that the cops work “diligently” to arrest the right people and generously let ’em go if exculpatory evidence surfaces. Gee, thanks, Andy. Of course no mention is made by Goodrich of FPD hiding exculpatory evidence in the first place; nor is perjury; and of course there is no apology to the victim of FPD malfeasance. Wouldn’t want to undermine public confidence in our Heroes, now would we?
UPDATE: Here is a post from waaaay back in November, 2010 about how our police union leaders view the political process and their ability to manipulate it to their own advantage. Of course the egregious Andrew Goodrich figures prominently in our post. Be sure to read the last sentence!
Just in case you thought there was any doubt that public service might not be the number one priority of Fullerton’s boys in blue, take a look at the document below, a veritable “how-to” article on political influence written in 2003 by FPD PIO and union front-man, Andrew Goodrich.
See, it’s all about how to leverage your members dues to create a political machine and get what’s coming to you. Actually it’s about defining what’s coming to you and getting a subservient collection of clowns you elect to go along for the ride.
I especially enjoyed Goodrich bragging about batting one thousand. The record looked great in 2003, but then the wheels started coming off the squad car. Chris Norby and Shawn Nelson jumped ship PDQ (although Norby stayed on the Police Reservation long enough to vote for the obscene 3@50 deal in 2001, thanks Norby). The pitiful police-backed pipsqueak Mike Clesceri was tossed out in 2004 after a mere one term; and ditto the equally useless Leland Wilson who was just a bad memory by 2006.
In 2010 the union backed a geriatric of dubious mental competency, a poster boy for pension abuse, and a guy who dodged criminal responsibility by giving his DNA to the DA. Hey two outta three ain’t bad –for them. For the rest of us? Not so good!
Bringing shop floor militancy to a police force near you...
And here’s a little bit more about Mr. Goodrich: promoted to “Community Services bureau leader – and police public information officer” last January as chronicled by Barbara Giasone:
Goodrich also signed the May 3, 2010 MOU on behalf of the FPOA, along with Barry Coffman and Robert Kirk.
And just in case you feel your tax dollars that pay for 3@50, etc. are insufficient thanks to the police for all they do you can always help out some more. Here’s a solicitation we received from the FPOA just yesterday. Your gift is supposed to go to FPOA “community outreach” but IS NOT tax deductible. Hmm. You get a decal of a police badge.
In closing I really feel compelled to wonder whether or not any of the three worthy gentlemen named above have been posting comments on our blog.
UPDATE: Please note Coffman’s admission: “This year, my first citation”. So he obviously took on this assignment to harass citizens out of the sheer joy of it. And there you have it. Your tax dollars at work.
The other day we shared a video here of the Fullerton Police Department’s PR disastrous anti-honking ticket strategy. Of course it was justifiably greeted with a hail of scorn and outrage and was ridiculed across Southern California as blatant harassment of peaceful protesters. Egad, another FPD humiliation. Another day another embarrassment!
Oh, well, I guess when you don’t have a sense of shame it’s impossible to be shamed.
What went unmentioned in the video was the identity of the well-fed cop who handed out the ticket to the protester who had the temerity to honk for justice for Kelly Thomas. Well, I know who this churlish individual is.
No surprise! That’s Fullerton Police Officer Association President, Barry Coffman – the head union goon who got The Three Blind Mice McKinley, Bankhead, and Jones elected in the first place, and then watched in satisfaction as these three clowns handed over Fullerton to his union comrades.
Barry says he is smirking because he gets so much job satisfaction. But Barry won’t be smirking for long. Whatever the DA does there will be Federal and civil lawsuits coming FPD’s way, and likely punitive damages against the McKinley Six. And that’s not going to be hushed up as usual. And he’s got an anti-recall campaign to finance with three elderly orangutans who have finally been exposed as utterly incompetent.
UPDATE: Here is Goodrich as reported by Brian Martinez at the Register:
Fullerton police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich said drivers have been holding down their horns continuously for a quarter-mile up and down Commonwealth and Highland. He said the department received numerous complaints from nearby residents, businesses and park-users about the excessive honking and other instances of disturbing the peace such as yelling at and approaching drivers who don’t honk their horns.
Another outright Goodrich lie to the stupid. A quarter mile? Lie. Highland has been blocked off. A quarter mile south would take you under the tracks and past Truslow. A quarter mile east or west on Commonwealth would take you Richman or Harbor, respectively. Of course the trough feeding media are too dumb to even question any of Goodrich’s claims and absurd statements. So we’ll do it for them.
According to Marisa Gerber at the OC Weekly Fullerton cops started handing out tickets to motorists who showed their support for today’s protest. Fortunately some concentrated verbal rebuke from the protesters directly in front of the FPD building resulted in the cops beating a hasty retreat.
Now, for fun, let’s listen in on Ms. Gerber’s conversation with the 2011 Dr. Josef Goebbels Award finalist, Andrew Goodrich, who is, miraculously, still employed by the FPD as a spokesman, and whose lies and quarter-truths are piling up so fast we need wings to stay above his torrent of bullshit:
If you aim low enough you're bound to hit something...
“It’s not just the horn honking, but leaning on the horn,” says Sgt. Andrew Goodrich, spokesman for the Fullerton Police Department, about the people who were cited for “illegal use of horn.” The department issued three citations, one of which the captain voided, Goodrich says.
Apparently Goodrich believes illegal use of horn merits paying a citation. Of course beating a man to death merits a paid vacation. Here’s more:
Goodrich says the police department has received “numerous complaints from residents and businesses” about the protesters in the past few weeks. The department received a complaint from one motorist who said their kids were frightened by a protester running in the streets.
Numerous? Really Andy? As numerous as the broken bones you claimed were suffered by the FPD killer cops in the “fight” you said they had with Kelly Thomas? I wonder if Kelly was as fearful of Goodrich’s fellow union members as those mythical “kids” were afraid of protesters running into the street. But Goodrich isn’t finished:
“The question was being asked of us why were allowing protesters to flagrantly violate the law,” Goodrich says, adding that the department has worked to give protesters some “latitude”. The police department contacted protest organizers last night, and again this morning, to ask for cooperation, he says.
“Flagrantly violate the law?” Is that phrase (coming from an FPD mouthpiece) supposed to be some kind of sick joke? Come on, Goodrich, who asked that question? Anybody? And were they at all concerned about FPD flagrantly violating the law by smashing a homeless man’s face in, killing him in the process? What’s that, Andy? Not flagrant enough?
And, by-the-way, thanks awfully for “working” to give us “latitude” to exercise our Constitutional rights, Sergeant Slime Trail.
Coming from the department spokesassclown who has deceitfully spun portly pirouettes around all the reports of serial law violations perpetrated by his fellow union brothers and sisters in the past few months, it’s now impossible for any objective person to believe a damn thing that emanates from this baboon’s yapper.
Now, here’s a question being asked of us at FFFF: can the FPD and the City be so detached from reality that they believe the jackass Goodrich is in any way doing them any good? I guess that question really answers itself.
Why is this sack of bovine excrement still employed?
Ron Thomas just announced there will be a peaceful protest outside Tony Rackauckas’ office tomorrow from 11:00-2:00. For those of you who haven’t been following along, Rackauckas is the Orange County District Attorney who is dragging his feet while trying to decide if he should bring charges against the six Fullerton cops who beat Kelly Thomas to death.
Fullerton City Councilman and former Police Chief, Pat McPension ain’t sayin’ much these days, at least nothing that isn’t getting him in even deeper in the City’s cover-up of the Kelly Thomas homicide at the hands for six Fullerton cops on the sultry night of July 5th.
But take a quick trip to Fullerton Stories and listen to then candidate Pat McPension in the fall of 2010.
Enjoy Pat’s list of repuglican endorsements, including DA Tony Rakauckas (!) and also the rear guard of decrepit liberalism in Fullerton, Molly McClanahan and Jan Flory.
Also enjoy Pat’s observation that it’s a good thing when nobody shows up to public meetings! Check. It’s a lot easier to cover-up what you’re doing when nobody is around (except “journalists” who regurgitate City Hall press releases and toss up softball questions). And of course nobody will be there to call you out on the serial misdeeds of your police department. The one you were in charge of for 17 long years. Remember, Pat? Yes, when you hired thieves, thugs, pill-poppers, sexual predators, kidnappers, perjurers, one-eyed LAPD rejects, killers of unarmed homeless people (and who knows who else) to patrol the mean streets of Fullerton.
Suffer through McPension’s bogus concern about out-of-control public employee pensions, and reflect upon the sad fact that in eight months on the City Council he hasn’t uttered so much as a tiny squeak on the subject.
In 2010 Pat promised to “hit the ground running.” Boy, that sure turned out to be a big elephant splat on the pavement in 2011.
I am struck by the comparative silence of the knee-jerk pro-police crowd about the irony that none of the six Fullerton cops who were present on the hot night of July 5th (when Kelly Thomas mysteriously slipped into a coma), are willing to talk to the DA to help further the cause of the impartial “investigation” being conducted by the Useless Rackauckas.
It seems hilarious to me that before “rushing to judgment” we are admonished to wait for the mature fruits of this so-called investigation which apparently will be lacking information from all seven of the people most immediately present at the incident. Since number seven won’t be talking anymore at all, this seems to suggest that the investigation will never be competently completed.
So how ’bout it FPD? Let’s get these boys a talkin’ so our hard-working DA can wrap up a thorough investigation and we move ahead.
Besides. If they have done nothing wrong, as many of their defenders claim, they have nothing to fear from our fair and impartial legal system.
We’ve got it on really good authority that former city councilman, State legislator, and current Irvine resident, Dick Ackerman is going to be heading up the anti-recall effort for Fullerton’s Three Blind Mice: Jones, Bankhead, and McKinley. For those of you who don’t recall the name Ackerman, run through our FFFF archives to discover what sort of moral fiber that this individual is composed of. We busted The Dickster cooking up a fake address in 2009 for his incompetent wife to run in our Assembly district although they actually live in Irvine (note: the Mrs was endorsed by Jones, Bankhead, and McKinley). We caught the old lady operating a fake charity for lobbyists so she and Dick could get free trips to Maui. We also cheered when the Voice of OC finally uncovered the smoking gun that tied Ackerman to illegal lobbying on behalf of the crooked OC Fair Board as we had been reporting all along.
See anything you like?
Only a few days ago we shared a notice for an upcoming country club event in which Ackerman will hold forth on how to manage a lynch-type mob.
That boy's gonna be real good to me...soon!
Well, now you know the sort of character we’re dealing with here. But what you might not know is that Dick Ackerman, who works for The Nossaman law firm was recently gifted with a huge windfall by his old pals Jones, Bankhead, and McKinley. See, on August 16th The Three Blind Miceignored their own professional staff’s recommendation, and instead presented Nossaman’s client, St. Anton Partners a multi-million dollar subsidy on a 60 units per acre low income housing project on Santa Fe Avenue! No wonder Dicky Boy was hanging out at the Council meeting all night and had to endure outraged citizens attacking the incompetence and stoogery of his three puppets on the council for three long hours.
Just for added fun here’s Ackerman’s blurb from the Nossaman website:
He assists companies, individuals, groups, and public agencies in their interactions with governments at the local, county, state, and federal levels. In addition, Mr. Ackerman assists clients in dealing with government and special districts on how to get through the political process.
In layman’s parlance, Ackerman is a political fixer, an influence peddler, and a lobbyist. Just the sort of guy who would spring to the defense of his trio of myopic rodent pals on the Fullerton City Council.
Here’s the page from the staff report listing the scores of the various “developers” seeking official City endorsement that will pave the way for millions in taxpayer subsidies. Check out Ackerman’s crew, St. Anton. Eighth freakin’ place! And yet Jones, Bankhead and McKinley decided to award millions to the guy who will be running their recall campaign. Stink? Much?
The second most ironic thing about this sad but illuminating story is that when he was on the city council in the 1980s, Ackerman was the most steadfast opponent of publicly subsidized housing in Fullerton. Well, that was then and this is now. See, when you’re a ‘puglican and money’s at stake, principles go right down the toilet. The most ironic thing is that in 1994 Ackerman also championed the cause of three incompetent buffoons who were being recalled. He lost that one, too.
As a thoughtful commenter reminds us, below, McKinley, Bankhead, and Jones were so eager to accomodate their pal Ackerman that they pushed through a vote and then had to rescind it because they never held a public hearing. Another example of Three Blind Stooge FAIL.
Here is an interview with a young man who was at the Transportation Center the night of July 5th, 2011. He was waiting for a bus.
His story has the ring of truth to it, and is interesting because it suggests several interesting facts. First, according to this account an “Hispanic” officer had Kelly seated on a curb and had his baton in his hands during some kind of discussion that lasted several minutes, at least; at which point Kelly got up and ran. He was quickly caught from behind, punched repeatedly and spent the rest of his “altercation” with FPD face down. There was no death-struggle between a superhuman drug-crazed freak and six officers grimly fighting for their lives.
There’s is no doubt from this account that the first two cops had difficulty subduing Thomas – most likely because they couldn’t get both hands cuffed behind his back. As the witness suggests, this could have been because the first officer was on top of Kelly from behind and Kelly’s arm was pinned beneath him. After that it was just a gang mugging.
