Los Angeles Times - 27.08.2019

CALIFORNIA

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2019:: LATIMES.COM/CALIFORNIA

B

When top brass at the

California Highway Patrol

early this year announced

the suspension of dozens of

officers suspected of fraudu-

lently receiving hundreds of

hours of overtime pay, they

insisted the practice was iso-

lated to the East Los Ange-

les station.

An investigation, they

said, found evidence that of-

ficers at the station exag-

gerated the number of hours

they worked in protection

details for Caltrans workers

doing freeway maintenance,

receiving pay for eight hours

of overtime when they may

have put in only three or four

hours on a detail.

But now attorneys for

more than 30 of those offi-

cers allege that the practice

extends far beyond the East

L.A. station and has existed

for decades. They cite state-

ments from current and for-

mer supervisors and officers

to back up their case.

Led by former Los Ange-

les County Dist. Atty. Steve

Cooley, the attorneys last

week sought a judge’s order

to release overtime records

for similar details worked in

the past by top CHP leaders

and investigators to prove

their point. The CHP has de-

nied a public records re-

quest for those records, cit-

ing the ongoing investiga-

tion.

The lawsuit filed in Supe-

rior Court seeks audits of

CHP overtime from 2016 to

2019 and the records of nine

specific officers and supervi-

sors from 2007 to 2009.

The overtime records the

attorneys are seeking in-

clude those of the lieutenant

who helped initiate the East

L.A. station probe, a captain

at the East L.A. station and

the public relations sergeant

for the Los Angeles region —

all of whom worked Caltrans

details in previous years.

PAYROLL

SCANDAL

AT CHP

COULD

GROW

Lawsuit by suspended

East L.A. officers says

disputed overtime

practice is widespread.

By Richard Winton

[SeeCHP,B4]

At an emotional news

conference Monday, the par-

ents of a man with

schizophrenia who was shot

and killed by an off-duty Los

Angeles police officer at a

Costco in Corona described

begging the officer not to

open fire after he pulled out

his gun and identified him-

self as police.

Kenneth French, 32, was

killed in the shooting on

June 14. His parents, Paola

and Russell French, were se-

verely wounded.

“I was pleading for our

son and our lives, but was

still shot in the back. What

threat did I pose to him?”

Paola French said.

The bullet went through

her back and exited her

stomach, said civil rights at-

torney Dale K. Galipo, who is

representing the family. The

shooting left her in a coma

for a prolonged period of

time. She has had seven sur-

geries and is scheduled for

more.

“After hearing Officer

[Salvador] Sanchez identify

himself as a police officer, I

begged and told him not to

shoot,” Russell French said.

“I said, ‘We have no guns,

PAOLA FRENCH,seated, and her son Kevin attend a Monday news conference

on the June 14 shooting in which an LAPD officer fatally shot her son Kenneth, 32.

Mel MelconLos Angeles Times

Parents say they begged officer

not to shoot them, son at Costco

Family files a legal

claim over the fatal

encounter in Corona.

By Alex Wigglesworth

and Paloma Esquivel

[SeeCostco,B6]

Authorities on Monday
said they were still investi-
gating why a USC freshman
got onto the 110 Freeway near
campus, where he was fa-
tally struck a few days before
classes began.
Matthew Olson, 18, was
walking south on the free-
way early Saturday when he
was hit by two cars, accord-
ing to a California Highway
Patrol news release.
Authorities said Olson
was walking between two
FasTrak lanes when a car to
the right of him hit him at
2:43 a.m. Olson fell into an-
other FasTrak lane and was
struck by another vehicle,

which did not stop.

The driver of the first car

stopped to help before the

Los Angeles Fire Depart-

ment arrived. Paramedics

pronounced Olson dead at

the scene.

“It is unknown at this

time why [Olson] was walk-

ing in the freeway lanes,” the

CHP said in the news re-

lease.

Officer Roberto Gomez,

a CHP spokesman, said

Monday morning that there

was no new information

about the crash.

Olson recently had grad-

uated from Corona del Mar

High School, where he

played on the basketball and

volleyball teams. In 2018, his

volleyball team won the na-

tional championship and he

earned the Coach’s Award

for Hardest Working Player,

USC officials said in a state-

ment.

Corona del Mar High

School Principal Kathy

Scott met with staff Monday

Grief and questions

over student’s death

Matthew Olson,

a freshman at USC,

was killed walking

on the 110 Freeway.

By Alejandra
Reyes-Velarde

[SeeOlson,B6]

SACRAMENTO — Cali-

fornia opened another front

in its legal battle with the

Trump administration over

immigration policies on

Monday as officials an-

nounced a federal lawsuit

challenging a new rule that

allows indefinite detention

of migrant children and

their families.

The 19-state lawsuit,

which was filed in the U.S.

District Court for the Cen-

tral District of California

and is co-led by Massachu-

setts, was unveiled by Gov.

Gavin Newsom and state

Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra,

who criticized the president

for ignoring a court settle-

ment that limited detention

of children to 20 days.

“No child deserves to be

left in conditions inappro-

priate and harmful for their

age,” Becerra said Monday.

“The actions by this admin-

istration are not just morally

reprehensible, they’re il-

legal. Children don’t become

subhuman simply because

they are migrants.”

As the state with the larg-

est immigrant population,

including an estimated 2.

million people in the U.S.

illegally, California officials

have repeatedly clashed

with Trump over his crack-

down on migrants, including

those seeking asylum.

The lawsuit is the 57th le-

gal challenge filed by Califor-

nia against the Trump ad-

ministration, 13 of which in-

volve immigration policies,

including a dispute over

funding for a border wall.

“If you go through the list,

we’re reacting to this un-

precedented assault on the

rule of law and due process

in this country,” Newsom

said.

Immigration issues have

been a flash point between

Trump and California. The

administration sued the

state in March 2018 to invali-

date California’s “sanctu-

ary” laws limiting law en-

forcement cooperation with

immigration authorities,

though a federal judge later

sided with the state.

The latest legal action is

over regulations rolled out

last week that will take effect

in two months unless

blocked by the courts. The

states argue the rules under-

mine the Flores settlement

of 1997, including the pre-

sumption that all children

are eligible for release into

the community.

Acting Homeland Secu-

rity Secretary Kevin

McAleenan said the Flores

agreement, which was

strengthened in 2015, was re-

sponsible for a flood of Cen-

tral American families com-

ing to the U.S. border, and he

contended the new rules

would discourage migra-

tion.

“The driving factor for

this crisis is weakness in our

legal framework for immi-

gration,” McAleenan said

last week. “This single settle-

ment has substantially

caused, and continues to

fuel, the current family unit

California sues

Trump again

on immigration

Suit joined by 18 other

states challenges rule

allowing prolonged

detention of migrant

children and families.

By Patrick McGreevy

and Taryn Luna

[SeeImmigration,B4]

Station fire

remembered

10 years later

The massive 2009 blaze

consumed 160,000 acres

over a 50-day period

and claimed the lives of

two firefighters. B

Church official

indicted in theft

Ex-chairman of board

of L.A. church faces

multiple counts of wire

fraud, bank fraud and

aggravated ID theft. B

Lottery.........................B

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. —
Scientists have detected mi-
croplastic pollution in Lake
Tahoe’s deep blue waters for
the first time. Now they are
trying to determine its
source and potential harm
to the lake’s flora and fauna.
Preliminary analyses of
water samples collected by
researchers at the Desert
Research Institute in Reno
revealed the presence of par-
ticles of synthetic fiber and
bits of red and blue plastic
no bigger than the head of a
pin.
“On one level, we’re
heartbroken and disap-
pointed by this discovery,”
said Monica Arienzo, an as-
sistant research professor at
the institute and leader of

the investigation. “We really

hoped we wouldn’t find

much of this material in

Tahoe’s water, which is al-

most entirely snowmelt.”

At the same time, she

said, the team is looking for-

ward “to diving deep into the

many questions and con-

cerns it raises.”

Tracing the particles to

their source won’t be easy.

Recent studies have shown

that particles from dis-

carded plastic products —

flip-flops, toys, tooth-

brushes, water bottles, syn-

thetic clothing, Styrofoam

packaging and myriad oth-

ers — can be transported

long distances through the

atmosphere by wind, rain

and falling snow.

As a result, the pollution

in the basin cradling Tahoe’s

TEENAGERSride a paddleboard at Lake Tahoe, where microplastics have been detected for the first time.

Rich PedroncelliAssociated Press

Hidden pollution in pristine

Lake Tahoe: Microplastics

Researchers to determine the particles’ source, potential harm

EXPERTS WILLstudy how microplastics reached

one of the nation’s most tightly regulated places.

Mark BosterLos Angeles Times

By Louis Sahagun

[SeeLake Tahoe,B4]