The Crime Beat Archives - Page 6 of 46 - Friends For Fullerton's Future

August 16, 2019August 16, 2019Ahmad Zahra

The Dysfunction of Downtown Fullerton

Friends for Fullerton’s Future just received a disturbing story accompanied by a photograph that seems to encapsulate the Downtown Fullerton experience:

Hey, FFFF, I wanted to send along a story about what happened to me a few weeks ago. About 2 am a friend and I were walking along the north side of Commonwealth. Across the street we could see some kind of free-for-all going on. Then the crowd ran off leaving two people lying on the ground. By the time we crossed over to see what the damage was, the Fullerton police had arrived. The two people, a guy and a woman, were bloodied and obviously beaten. One of the cops saw me observing the scene and asked if I wanted to be arrested.

Rather than provide information about what we had seen, we decided to move on. But before we left I turned around and took this picture showing the woman pleading with four cops who appeared indifferent to whatever physical abuse she had suffered.

Sad.

Yes, Friend, it is sad. Our “leaders” have created, nurtured, and encouraged a culture of mayhem where sometimes it’s hard to tell the victim from the perpetrator and where the cops are seemingly anesthetized to the weekly blood bath.

August 1, 2019August 1, 2019Chronic Failure

More Good Times; Stompin’ at the Slidebar

by Joe Sipowicz10 Comments

A couple of weeks ago Jeremy Popoff’s Slidebar employees and clientele provided more examples of the sort of high class behavior favored by our city council and particularly our lobbyist/councilcreature Jennifer Fitzgerald who has been running cover for Popoff for years and years. You may recall that Slidebar has never gotten the required CUP even as city officials like Fitzgerald, Bruce Whitaker and Party Planner Ted White have schmoozed and petted its miscreant owner.

Everybody seems to be ignoring Slidebar’s violation of planning and nuisance laws until the laws can be watered down so much even a professional douchebag can slime by without comment.

Here’s the video

At the outset you can see a bouncer on theft serially pound some hapless dude already on the ground and then go for a head stomp for good measure.

In the open-air saloon known as Downtown Fullerton it’s often virtually impossible to distinguish between the bad behavior of the bar-hopping patrons and the low-lifes hired to control them.

June 25, 2019September 9, 2020Chronic Failure

More Nepotism at the Fullerton Police Department

by Lonnie Machin17 Comments

We found an interesting aside to the Officer Brian Hagopian file that was released under SB1421. The file includes, as part of the investigation, a memo written from “Sergeart [Redacted]” talking about his wife, Officer [Redacted].

We know from our previous writing on Officer Hagopian regarding his (still?) outstanding arrest warrant in Riverside county that he was in a relationship with one Miss Perez, the sister of one Officer Hazel (Perez) Rios.

Officer Hazel Rios, of the Patrol Division, is the wife of Lieutenant Tony Rios, of the Operation Division-Patrol.

I know police work can often be a family business but how is it not a conflict of interest having one’s spouse below you in the chain of command?

Also, why is he writing a letter about an Officer Hagopian, who his sister-in-law is dating regarding text messages his wife was told about by her sister? As an officer shouldn’t Hazel Rios be the one writing this memo to remove a degree of separation at the very least?

What happens if Officer Rios does something out of policy? Does her Lieutenant Husband get a say? Or are we to believe that his co-workers will be tough and fair on their colleagues wife? What happens if Lieutenant Rios does something wrong? Do we expect his wife to report him? We have a hard enough time getting officers to penetrate the Blue Wall of Silence, let alone to do so against a spouse.

We have so many questions and predictably can expect zero answers in return.

June 15, 2019June 18, 2019Bad Cops

Fullerton’s City Prosecutor Threatened Me

by Joshua54 Comments

Thanks to our friend and contributor Lonnie Machin’s recent posts on this blog, the City of Fullerton has decided to send a Cease and Desist letter threatening me and “Friends for Fullerton [sic]” with legal action.

The letter in it’s entirety is as follows:

Joshua Ferguson
Friends for Fullerton
Re: Cease and Desist – City of Fullerton Police Department

Dear Mr. Ferguson,

It has come to the attention of the City of Fullerton that you have recently published on your website documents which have clearly and undoubtedly been sourced from the confidential personnel files of several current and/or former Fullerton Police Officers. The State of California has statutorily recognized this right of confidentiality. (See Penal Code §§ 832.5, 832.7 and 832.8.) Any disclosure of such confidential records is strictly limited and must be authorized by a court order from a Superior Court judge. (See Evidence Code §§ 1043-1047; Pitchess v. Superior Court(1974) 11 Cal.3d 531 and its progeny.) Indeed, the Fullerton Police Department has an affirmative duty to resist attempts at unauthorized disclosure and the officers who are the subject of such records expect their right of privacy will be respected. (See Craig v. Municipal Court for the Inglewood Judicial District et al. (1979) 100 Cal.App.3d 69.) Finally, the improper disclosure of such records is prosecutable as a misdemeanor violation of law under Government Code section 1222 (See Attorney General Opinion, 82 Op. Att’y Gen. 246 (1999).) Any person facilitating the illegal disclosure of such documents in violation of the law may be prosecuted as either a principal in that crime or as an aider and abettor.

For all these reasons the City of Fullerton demands you immediately:

1. Remove these Confidential Documents from Your Blog within one hour of your receipt of this e-mailed cease and desist letter;

2. Refrain from posting any other Confidential Documents illegally obtained to Your Blog in the future:

3. That you immediately send to our office within 24 hours all Confidential Documents you and your employees have in your possession. You are also instructed not to make any copies of the Confidential Documents in any form (including but not limited to electronic, imaged, hard copies, etc.)

3. That you immediately delete all electronic copies of the Confidential Documents in your and your employees’ possession.

Your failure to follow these instructions can result in legal action being taken against Friends for Fullerton’s Future wherein the City will seek all necessary legal remedies.

We require your immediate compliance with this cease and desist letter. Notify the undersigned of your compliance with the above within 24 hours of your receipt of this correspondence.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Gregory P. Palmer
City Prosecutor
City of Fullerton

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March 20, 2019April 15, 2019Brick Veneer, Fake Old, And Other Horrors

Fire Sprinklers Save Lives and Property!

by Joe Sipowicz65 Comments

And who should know that better than the Florentine Family whose nightclubs at the corner Harbor and Commonwealth, as FFFF recently noted, were out of compliance with their Conditional Use Permit that requires the installation of fire sprinklers.

Yo, this is better’n Joisey. I got me a sidewalk!

This is surely ironic to people who consider such things, since the paterfamilas of the clan, Tony, used to own a restaurant and lounge called the Melody Inn that was gutted by a suspicious fire in 1989 and required the demolition of the oldest remaining commercial building in Fullerton. This in turn, set off a years-long bureaucratic chain of humiliation and Redevelopment folly that concluded with the construction of a hamburger restaurant and other architectural monstrosities.

There is no second floor. Other than that it’s a 2 story building

Maybe it was supposed to be a swimming pool

Now, you might think that someone who suffered such a terrible tragedy as losing a business just a few hundred feet from his current one would be a lot more concerned about a repeat performance in 2019. And you might think the Fullerton municipal government would be a lot more concerned about fire safety and well-being of the Florentines’ patrons.

December 7, 2018December 7, 2018Doug Chaffee

PAULETTE MARSHALL CHAFFEE CHARGED WITH TWO COUNTS OF THEFT

by The Fish14 Comments

Today the Orange County District Attorney’s office announced it had filed two charges of petty theft against former Fullerton Mayor and Supervisor-Elect Doug Chaffee’s wife, Paulette Marshall Chaffee.

Paulette was last seen receiving a bouquet of flowers at City Hall from Councilwoman Jennifer Fitzgerald.

Pilfering Paulette has her arraignment scheduled for December 18th at 8:30AM.

Given the razor thin victory of Doug Chaffee in last month’s election, one can’t help but wonder how his opponent would have fared had these charges been filed before the election.

More on Paulette’s plea and likely plea deal in two weeks.

November 2, 2018Bad Cops

This is Why Chief Hendricks Resigned

by Joshua68 Comments

Today the City of Fullerton put out a Press Release stating that Fullerton Police Chief David Hendricks was resigning. They extolled the virtues of his employment and when I called to ask about the resignation I was told that I was making an assumption that the Chief was resigning owing to his current leave of absence and possible criminal prosecution.

Let us clear a few things up here for the record.

First and foremost the City, per their Public Information Officer, agreed to waive the contractual requirement that Hendricks give 45 days notice upon his written resignation. It allowed them to appoint Acting Chief Dunn as…. Interim Chief Dunn, a distinction without a difference, unless you happen to have a pension stored at CalPERS.

Second, despite the Chief being on leave for over 2 months, this was announced on a Friday when City Hall is closed. Want further details? Too bad, you’re gonna have to wait until Monday when everybody is focused on Tuesday’s Mid-Term Election. This is government document-dump obfuscation 101. You don’t release information in this fashion unless you’re trying to bury the news and avoid answering questions.

Why did the City agree to waive the 45 day requirement? Why was this done now being that we already have an acting chief? Why didn’t the city work to fire Hendricks for contract violation owing to the ongoing investigation? What is the status of that investigation?

No clue. No responses. No answers. Gonna have to wait until Monday folks, sorry.

Let this be an abject lesson that City Manager Ken Domer does not believe in transparency contrary to his public and private statements. I had high hopes for Domer, but alas he is proving himself to be just another bureaucrat working to keep the bureaucracy funneling money into his and his cohort’s retirements. Don’t expect our tired and constantly campaigning City Council members to ask any of these questions or work to make things more transparent.

Fret Not Friends!

We want answers and I’m sure you want answers as well and thanks to an anonymous source from the great beyond we have some details that the city will never tell us because reasons.

Here is the redacted (for privacy) and highlighted (by me) highlights of what really happened at that Lady Antebellum concert back in August and why our Chief decided to resign with no notice.

We’ll leave the conclusions to you.

November 2, 2018November 2, 2018Bad Cops

HENDRICKS QUITS

by Deadeye27 Comments

It’s official.

Once again, Fullerton is without a Police Chief.

This morning, city officials issued a press release announcing Fullerton’s top cop had departed. Per Chief Hendrick’s contract, no disparaging remarks are included in the release, which summarizes some accomplishments in the short tenure of Mr. Hendricks.

— Improved Morale

— Improved Retention

— Improved Response Time

— Online Crime Blotter Reporting

— Homeless Support

— Streamlined investigations and documentation for complaints

Not a single mention as to why the Chief Resigned, namely any confirmation or denial that the Chief did in fact assault a uniformed female emergency response technician.

In any case, after collecting $60,000 on a paid vacation covering two and a half months after the incident, Fullerton taxpayers have yet another interim chief, no shortage of sign thieves, stabbings, shootings, double digit arrests every weekend downtown, and absolutely no answers whatsoever concerning what the hell happened at a concert down in Irvine involving two of Fullerton’s top brass.

October 11, 2018October 12, 2018Carpetbaggery

Chip Chimes In On Chaffee

by The Worm12 Comments

First Fox11, now KTLA. It looks like the news is starting to take notice of the Mayor’s wife’s pilfering.

Paulette Marshall Chaffee has also moved into Stage 3 in Kübler-Ross model of grief.

We saw denial when there was no acknowledgement. Anger when she suspended her campaign blaming toxicity. Now she’s at bargaining as she’s hired an attorney according to Chip Yost with KTLA:

October 8, 2018October 9, 2018Carpetbaggery

CHAFFEE QUITS

by The Fish35 Comments

Anyone know what to know a defining feature of shitty politician?

They never, ever, apologize.

Enter, Paulette Marshall Chaffee. Over the past week, FFFF’s crack investigative pool embarrassed Pilfering Paulette into suspending her campaign after posting not one, but two separate videos of Mrs. Chaffee taking down political signage and driving away with property that isn’t hers.

Hat tip to Sharon Kennedy at the Fullerton Observer for getting a statement from Chaffee:

“I have too much respect for the people in this community to put them through this clearly toxic campaign. therefore I have decided for the good of the community to suspend my campaign for Fullerton City Council District 5.”

Really? Too much respect?

Let’s consider that. Pilfering Paulette has “too much respect for the people in *this* community to put them through this clearly toxic campaign”, but not enough respect not to steal.

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