Category: Watch Your Wallet

Posted onSetting The Bar Low

Confirmed: Fullerton Cop Arrested for Stealing iPad at TSA Checkpoint

by 287 Comments on Confirmed: Fullerton Cop Arrested for Stealing iPad at TSA Checkpoint

Here’s the story we reported at the end of June, a truly embarrassing tale of theft and utter stupidity perpetrated by one of Fullerton’s Finest. And a harbinger of things to come. Forget the final sentence. We now know very well about the moral turpitude that pervades pat McKinley’s police force.

– Joe Sipowicz

The following report confirms that an off-duty Fullerton police officer was arrested for stealing an Apple iPad at a Miami International Airport TSA checkpoint last month. According to court documents, FPD Officer Kelly Mejia was caught on surveillance video taking an $800 iPad from another passenger just after it had passed through the x-ray machine in the presence of TSA security agents.

View the arrest report

After the security footage was reviewed, Miami police canvassed the airport and discovered Mejia holding the iPad at the boarding gate. Mejia initially stated that she found the iPad and that she intended to keep it. Upon further questioning, the arresting officer says that Mejia confessed to taking the iPad and was placed under arrest for 3rd degree grand theft (a felony in Florida.)

The arrest report refers to Mejia’s occupation as a police officer and lists the address for FPD Headquarters as her place of employment. Kelly Mejia has been working with the Fullerton Police Department for at least six years and earns about $86,000 per year as a patrol officer.

You want it, don't you.

It’s hard to imagine that this type of brazen theft in a high security zone would be anyone’s inaugural venture into pickpocketing. The authority granted to the occupation of police officer certainly presents many opportunities to bring home a little something extra on the side. I wonder if anything else is missing around here?

And how many pending criminal cases in Fullerton will be called into question if this officer loses her credibility in court? Will this officer be fired or just slapped on the wrist? Is this another indicator of ethical problems within Fullerton cop culture?

We’ll never know.

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Posted onDead heads

Fall Out of a Chair, Get a Tax Break. Bankhead Discovers “Chief’s Disease”

by 46 Comments on Fall Out of a Chair, Get a Tax Break. Bankhead Discovers “Chief’s Disease”

Some say Mayor Don Bankhead retired from the police force too early, unfortunately missing out on the last decade’s massive pension spikes that have driven modern public safety pensions well into six figures. As a result, Bankhead’s annual CalPERS pension is only $81,351.16, still about three times what the rest of us might be able to get from Social Security.

What?

But Bankhead found another way to boost his pension. Through a series of dubious disability claims filed towards the end of his career, he was able to make at least 40% of his retirement tax-free. The injuries were allegedly suffered when Bankhead fell down some stairs and then later worsened when he fell out of a chair, according to this LA Times article from 1990.

 

View the article

“Chief’s Disease,” as these disability pension spikes are commonly called, were all the rage in law enforcement circles in the 80’s and 90’s. At one point, eighty percent of senior CHP retirees had curiously developed debilitating injuries in the last two years of service, which made up to 50% of their pensions tax-free for the rest of their lives.

So how much does Bankhead get tax-free? The city won’t tell us, and neither will CalPERS. Bankhead’s case file was recently destroyed by the workers’ comp court where his case was heard, and no journalists bothered to follow up on the story.

In my day, we didn't have 3 at 50. We had to be creative.

One thing we do know: Bankhead didn’t “throw in the towel” due to alleged injuries. He quit after he had been passed over for the Police Chief job, and promptly announced his ambition to run for the Fullerton City Council. Then he tried (unsuccessfully) to run against Brad Gates for Orange County Sheriff.

That’s a lot of ambition for a guy who doesn’t pay his share of income taxes because he’s “totally disabled.”

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Posted onBehind Closed Doors

$500,000 More Reasons To Recall The Three Blind Dinosaurs

by 111 Comments on $500,000 More Reasons To Recall The Three Blind Dinosaurs
Asleep at the switch...or worse

In today’s LA Times an unnamed source in has indicated that the settlement of a sexual battery case with two women is going to cost us (you taxpayers, finally get it?) half a million bucks.

You remember the case, right? The one where FPD cop Albert Rincon alleged serially sexually assaulted women in the back of his patrol car; the one where Federal Judge Andrew Guilford refused the City’s request to throw the case out  and issued a scathing opinion about the City’s complicity in the series of attacks by placing Rincon back on the streets of Fullerton to attack other women. Yeah, that one.

$500,000 right out of our pockets to pay for just one out of control cop and his bosses in the FPD who covered up for him. That would certainly include our MIA Chief Sellers and his predecessor and current council member Pat McKinley. And what in the world have former Fullerton cop Don Bankehead and Mayor Dick Jones  been doing on the City Council for the past 23 and 15 years, respectively. They certainly appear unwilling to take any responsibility for the police department over which they were supposed to be asserting civilian control.

Remember to remind the Tumescent Trio of these facts tonight.

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Posted onBehind Closed Doors

Speaking of Apologies…

by 58 Comments on Speaking of Apologies…

 

Frown now, pay later...

Frequent commenter, blessusall stopped by yesterday to share a thought about the formal “apology” on today’s City Council Agenda. As you all know the apology was from the City to the Nordell family because last year a bunch of heavily armed FPD cops broke into their house by mistake in some sort of botched drug raid.

blessusall opined about the irony of this insincere apology (got only by dodged persistence by the Nordells) vis-a-vis all the other FPD misbehaving’ going on lately and suggested the City might:

Apologize for the lawless behavior of:

McKinley
Sellers
Ramos
Wolfe
Cicinelli
Hampton
Craig
Blatney
Goodrich
Rincon
Major
Siliceo
Tong
Cross
Wren
Nowling
Mejia

And who else?

Who else, indeed. These pages are strewn with the miscreance, mayhem, and murder perpetrated by Pat McKinley’s hirees and trainees. At this point even the most die-hard cop apologist must be wondering about the stuff that hasn’t even emerged yet, and how much all this crap is going to cost the taxpayers of Fullerton.

Apology? Hell, yes! And why not demand that apology tonight!

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Posted onBehind Closed Doors

Toxic Waste Dump In Fullerton

by 115 Comments on Toxic Waste Dump In Fullerton
A glut in the toxicity market...

In yesterday’s OC Register, Councilman Pat McKinley, the chief architect of the Fullerton Police Department’s profound culture of corruption, responded to the news that KFI’s John and Ken are coming to Fullerton to promote his recall.

“They are toxic people who create problems for a lot of folks. I wish they would stay away.”

More PR gold from the man who ran the FPD into a moral cesspool during his 16-year stint as Chief of Police.

Oddly, McKinley has offered no public opinion as to the comparative toxicity of:

1) police officer sentenced to jail for fraud to support his pill habit.

2) police officer arrested in Miami airport for iPad theft.

3) police officer who smashed recording device on jail wall to avoid complicity in jail suicide.

4) police officers beating up and falsely arresting Veth Mam.

5) police officers lying on the witness stand about Veth Mam.

6) police officer beating up and falsely arresting Edward Quinonez.

7) police officer sexually assaulting a dozen women in the backseat of his patrol car, with recording device turned off.

8 ) police officers issuing traffic citations to harass protesters.

9) police officers ambushing and murdering a helpless homeless man.

10) police officers turning off recording devices during murder.

11) police officers colluding to falsify reports about said murder.

12) superior officers coaching said falsification.

13) return to street of said miscreants.

14) police officer spokeshole deliberately issuing lies to the media to misdirect, temporize, stall and otherwise obscure said murder and cover up.

15) councilmembers insulting protesters as “lynch-type mob.”

16) councilmembers discounting injuries of murder victim.

17) police officer arrests Emmanuel Martinez by mistake (or on purpose) and he spends 5 months in jail.

Good God! What a litany of toxic behavior, and the really scary part is that this is only the stuff we know about. And the chowderhead McKinley has the nerve to call anybody else on the planet “toxic?” The level of denial of responsibility is remarkable. Of course being given a $215,000 a year pension may create an unavoidable attitude of arrogance and self-entitlement.

However, Mr. McPension has a generous streak, to be sure:

“Councilman Pat McKinley said he supports the radio hosts right to stage a rally, but the former Fullerton police chief certainly disagrees with the pair’s opinions…”

Well, thanks awfully, Pat. You support the First Amendment. Well, you support it when people are watching, obviously. No elaboration about what he specifically disagrees with John and Ken about.

 

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Posted onPatdown Pat McPension

Snouts of Fury: Aardvark Pays Fullerton a Visit!

by 267 Comments on Snouts of Fury: Aardvark Pays Fullerton a Visit!

At Saturday’s protest of the hapless Fullerton Police Department, some perceptive folks espied a character who immediately drew suspicion, sore thumb-like, as some sort of plant. Of course they challenged this individual, who, thoughtfully provided a business card.

An aardvark with a business card!

Craig Fury. “Law Enforcement Territory manager.” Aardvark Tactical.

FYI, an aardvark is a homely creature that roots through the dirt for bugs which seems aptly descriptive; the use of the name could also be a tactic just to get to the front of the phone book.

Our Friends discreetly followed Mr. Fury for several blocks down Commonwealth Avenue before he doubled back and wandered into – the FPD HQ! So what gives? Did the cops employ this clown to spy on peaceful protesters? If not why was he there?

Yes, we carry the full line of Pat McPension gear...

I note that on their website that Aardvark “featured partners” include Safariland, the company that McKinley worked with (on the taxpayers dime) developing his special vest that was later purchased by the Fullerton Police Department. Aardvark is an “authorized dealer” of Safariland equipment. Did McKinley and the anti-recall drones employ this guy to take pictures of scary members of Kelly’s Army? If not why was he there, and why the loop-de loop?

Aardvark explains himself

 

Aardvark pretends to leave
Aardvark sneaks back into the station

I think somebody in authority (now who would that be?) needs to inform the police that the FPD facility is owned by the taxpayers (us) and that they had better stay out of politics on public time (ours) and in a publicly owned facility (ours).

 

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Posted onFullerton School Board

FSD Forks Over $35k to Fired Lunch Lady

by 22 Comments on FSD Forks Over $35k to Fired Lunch Lady

The Fullerton School District had the summer off while our attention was diverted to more important matters. Under that cover and with the convenient assistance of closed session, the Board handed a ridiculous $35,000 cash settlement (our money, not theirs) to a previously fired six-figure employee who didn’t like getting terminated.

Lisa Reynoso is an ex-Director of Nutrition Services who presumably neglected her job duties so badly that the district took on the daunting task of actually terminating her employment and replacing her with someone better.

The board had been wanting to fire Ms. Reynoso for years, but the first attempt at some sort of action in 2007 was overturned by the Personnel Commission, a crazy union invention in which a dubious mix of unelected and unaccountable bad-employee sympathizers actually have power above and beyond the school board itself.

An unsettling agreement

So the lunch lady’s tenure was extended by a few years, which was more than enough for her to earn herself another termination by doing something else bad. We don’t know what she did this time, but anyone who’s tried the meatloaf knows that the bar is pretty low in a grade school cafeteria.

Did the board take charge and let her go this time? No. Our spineless representatives took the easy way out and gave her a parting settlement instead. At the taxpayers’ expense, of course.

It’s lost on these unprincipled, short-sighted administrators that handing cash to an ex-employee who doesn’t deserve it only encourages future bad apples to pursue the same jackpot. Shampoo, rinse, repeat, waste money, hope nobody notices.

What a mess.

The scam was ultimately abetted by the spineless “ayes” of board members Bev Berryman, Janny Meyer and Hilda Sugarman in closed session, with Chris Thompson dissenting.

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Posted onDead heads

Doc Hee Haw, H2O and Hitler?

by 26 Comments on Doc Hee Haw, H2O and Hitler?

One of the reasons F. Dick Jones is being recalled is his loyal support of an illegal 10% tax tagged on to Fullerton’s water users. We’ve written about this before. So here’s a fun replay post on the subject just to show you the befuddlement of our illustrious mayor.

– Mr. Peabody

A reasonable person might well be excused for wondering how a balanced individual would connect Adolf Hitler’s occupation of the Rhineland with a proposed water rate increase.  Hell, we’ve been watching the cornpone brayings of Doc “Hee Haw” Jones for so long that no idiocy he spouts is surprising. Enjoy this erudition:

Okay forget the Hitler reference that might be more germane to a discussion on government economic policy such as Redevelopment. The real point of sharing this video is to show how Dick Hee Haw casually countenances the 10% in lieu “fee” rip-off because it isn’t “wasted,” i.e. is spent on things like cops. Forget the fact that Jones voted in the deplorable public safety 3 @ 50 that has buried Fullerton in retirement unfunded liability; forget that cops do nothing to provide water to the water rate payer; but, consider this:  THE FRANCHISE FEE IS NOTHING BUT A TAX ON THE WATER USERS OF FULLERTON TO HELP PROP UP CITY HALL’S NON-WATER RELATED BUDGET.

A water rate increase automatically increases the lieu fee that is based on gross revenue, plain and simple. Well, not simple enough for Doc Phogbound to wrap his pea-sized brain around, apparently. Jones is all about funding big government by hook or by crook, and the phonier the scam, the better.

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