The Joe Felz Cover-up is nearly complete. Yesterday the officer, Jeff Corbett, who falsified his report, was slapped on the wrist for his felonious actions.
While we don’t know what happened in his Jury Trial, the bench trial ended yesterday with the judge giving him less time for lying in his official capacity as a police officer than you can get for contempt of court.
His attorney said this case, where an officer lied on a report, was more of a “political football than a felony”. Let that sink in. Lying under the color of authority isn’t that big of a deal in this system.
His attorney also claimed that Corbett was being prosecuted for his “opinion” that Joe Felz wasn’t intoxicated. What this defense attorney and judge ignored is that it took Corbett over an hour to conduct his “limited investigation” because, according to Corbett himself, the “back and forth phone calls” took too long. Those are the phone calls between Corbett, Danny Hughes, Jennifer Fitzgerald and lord knows who else.
So the powers that be were pulling strings for Felz to not get treated like any other DUI in Fullerton (hi MADD!) and Corbett went along with it by stating that an obviously intoxicated Felz (who plead guilty to that fact) didn’t seem intoxicated. The other officers reported that Felz “smelled of alcohol” but something something Corbett is hero and deserve.
The judge admitted she had no idea there was an independent investigation by RCS and she clearly didn’t know the facts of the case or she wouldn’t call this just a “sloppy investigation”.
The judge claimed there are a lot of politics involved and then claimed she was going to avoid the politics to “follow the law” but you cannot untangle the two in this case. Let us not forget that the Mayor and Chief of Police directed the actions of a police officer in relation to the drinking and driving by the City Manager. That the officer was on the up-and-up when he claimed to not think the City Manager was drunk under the law (after not doing a breathalyzer and waiting over an hour to conduct any sobriety tests) is laughable at best.
It only took 51 months, 14 days (or 1,567 days) for the illusion of justice to be handed down in the Joe Felz Sappy McTree Caper.
All in all he got 80 hours of community service, is required to pay restitution (that may not even exist), is required to pay $500 to the “victim witness” and Corbett can’t work in law enforcement anymore. Once this “diversion” is completed in a year the record will be sealed.
All that remains is for the body worn camera footage to be “lost” by FPD now that there is no reason to legally withhold it from the public.
Former FPD Officer Jeff Corbett, made famous for giving former City Manager Joe Felz a pass on his drunken driving, is back in court over his falsifying a report in that very incident.
He had a previous jury trial where… something happened? Now he’s back with a bench trial.
Watch live here:
Never say the wheels of justice move slowly in America – we’re only 4 years and 3.5 months away from the incident in question.
The City recently sent out a file from the City Attorney, via Assistant City Clerk Klein, that lists officers who’s records are disclosable under the Records Law known as SB1421. This was sent to those who had requested these files such as myself, the ACLU, LA Times and others. The following is my response;
Dear SB1421 Requesters and interested parties,
It has come to my attention that the City of Fullerton has broken California’s Public Record’s Law, specifically related to SB1421, by denying you records which are quite clearly publicly disclosable.
In the link sent to you by Mea Klein, Assistant City Clerk, as provided to her by the City Attorney, you were told that there are 27 Officers “REQUESTED BY NAME, BUT NO DISCLOSABLE FILE AVAILABLE (27)”. This is patently false.
The City of Fullerton is currently suing me, my compatriot David and the blog Friends for Fullerton’s Future directly related to the published findings on several of these officers.
In looking at this list I can quite easily name Officers on that list who have disclosable records under SB1421 including but not limited to Kathryn Hamel, Paul Irish, Miguel “Sonny” Siliceo, Christopher Wren & Nathan Roesler.
A sustained finding was found against Hamel and one cannot simply unring that bell as seen in the recent Contra Costa County tentative decision (CASE NAME: RICHMOND POLICE VS. CITY OF RICHMOND).
This FFFF article related to Hamel is specifically mentioned in the lawsuit against myself and FFFF:
Christopher Wren had a sustained finding against for dishonesty related to a workplace affair with a subordinate. In IA Case #17-0038 one of the sustained findings against Officer Wren is as follows:
“6. On December 17, 2017, when Lieutenant Cleggett asked you about your whereabouts, you dishonestly stated to Lieutenant Cleggett that you had been on the phone with your wife the entire time and did not notice Lieutenant Cleggett’s text message.”
This statement of dishonesty was directly related to misconduct as outlined in the timeline of Wren’s activities and being in violation of policy.
Likewise with Christopher Wren, an article is specifically listed in the lawsuit being waged against myself and FFFF:
The idea that the city attorney is unaware of the sustained findings against their officers which are disclosable under SB1421 is laughable when those very stories are being used by the same attorneys as evidence in a lawsuit where the city seeks a prior restraint against myself and FFFF.
The blog has likewise published stories on how Paul Irish was terminated for dishonesty;
Nathan Roesler filed a false report with the City of Placentia which resulted in an innocent man being arrested for a crime that wasn’t committed against Roesler. This was referred to the District Attorney for prosecution.
These are the cases which are readily and easily pointed out which I believe to be disclosable under SB1421 which calls all of the other officers on the list into question. The City is blatantly lying to you, your organizations and agencies as well as the public and concerned entities about disclosable records despite being in a separate lawsuit over these very violations of SB1421.
If you are honestly seeking these records and others from the City of Fullerton you will likely have no recourse but to seek remedies in order to get to the truth. I have already been forced to take this route unfortunately.
They are likewise violating the law in regards to the officer whose records are “PENDING; NOT YET PRODUCED (3)”. The incident in Corbett’s case was from 2016 and Paez’s was in 2017. The timeline has long passed for required production in both of these cases.
Thank you for your time and I wish you all the best in your efforts to get to the truth.
Sincerely,
Joshua Ferguson
Host, The Hourly Struggle
Writer, Friends for Fullerton’s Future
Concerned Citizen
For the record, City Manager Ken Domer is fine with these lies as he could put an end to them but works with the City Attorneys to keep them going. The same for Police Chief Dunn. He has no desire for you to know which of his officers are corrupt or he’d demand the city follow the law.
The City Council? 4 of the 5 of them have repeatedly voted to sue us without so much as questioning the liability the City Attorney themselves caused. Remember, when the City Council wants YOU to follow the law – they have no problem shielding police from it.
Despite all of their bluster over Black Lives Matter, Jesus Silva & Ahmad Zahra don’t care about police misconduct or oversight. Jan Flory & Jennifer Fitzgerald don’t care about integrity or accountability either. Remember, they all voted to sue US to keep the records of corrupt police from YOU. Hell, Sharon Quirk-Silva, Jesus Silva’s wife, voted AGAINST the very law in question here (SB1421) if you want perspective of how little these people’s rhetoric matters.
Fullerton, like most departments, has a problem reminiscent of Serpico and this problem is years in the making. This problem is part of the story of the sordid “Culture of Corruption” that was documented after the Kelly Thomas beating. This veritable Serpico problem is a cancer within the system where once in uniform even good people turn a blind eye to corruption and stand idle as their unions and water carriers work to stomp on both people working towards and laws aimed at transparency.
For those unfamiliar with Frank Serpico he was an officer in the NYPD who stood up against widespread corruption and suffered for this crime against the Blue Wall of Silence. When he was shot in the face in the line of duty his fellow officers went so far as refusing to call for help.
This reverse Serpico problem is the common issue of Officers refusing to speak out, refusing to stand up and refusing to be good ethical humans for fear of reprisals from their brothers and sisters in blue.
Today I want to tell a story that should have been told some time ago – the tale of how ethics can get you fired at Fullerton PD.
I’d like to tell you about one Corporal Paul Irish.
You see, Corporal Irish was fired for dishonesty. A year or so ago I spoke to Paul and I was given copies of the files related to his termination. Honestly I didn’t know what to do with what he gave me and I sort of let it sit waiting for the time to really dig into it. Life, kids, you know the drill. That box sat in my garage patiently waiting for me to have time. Skip ahead and, well, the city cost me my job recently and I find myself with more time on my hands. So I got to reading.
To sum up hundreds of pages of paperwork — what Corporal Irish DID was, allegedly, tell his supervisors he was giving a talk on seat belt safety when he actually gave a talk on ethics. When they hammered him for his dishonesty on what his talk was about they ran a full investigation into the issue which ultimately led to his termination for more alleged dishonesty.
The transcript of the talk is [HERE] and the actual audio as recorded by Corporal Irish is here;
According to the information I have seen, these are the charges for which Corporal Irish was fired:
PSB #2014-72IA Investigation
Corporal Paul Irish
Potential Policy Violations:
340.3.5 (g) – within policy
340.3.5 (h)
340.3.5 (i)
340.3.5 (l)
340.3.5 (n)
340.3.5 (z)
Recommendation to Staff: Not within policy – Termination Approved
That’s a bunch of jargon so I’ll allow the Fullerton Police Department’s Policy Manual chapter on Conduct explain all that legal speak:
(h)Knowingly making false, misleading or malicious statements that are reasonably calculated to harm or destroy the reputation, authority or official standing of the Department or members thereof.
(i)The falsification of any work-related records, the making of misleading entries or statements with the intent to deceive, or the willful and unauthorized destruction and/or mutilation of any department record, book, paper or document.
(l)Any knowing or negligent violation of the provisions of the department manual, operating procedures or other written directive of an authorized supervisor. Employees shall familiarize themselves with and be responsible for compliance with each of the above and the Department shall make each available to the employees.
(n)Criminal, dishonest, infamous or disgraceful conduct adversely affecting the employee/employer relationship, whether on or off duty.
(z)Any other on-duty or off-duty conduct which any employee knows or reasonably should know is unbecoming a member of the Department or which is contrary to good order, efficiency or morale, or which tends to reflect unfavorably upon the Department or its members.
Remember, this all stems from Corporal Irish giving a talk on ethics that his supervisors didn’t approve of him giving and being mad at being “lied to” about said briefing.
This should be put into some context with current events in order to explain the aforementioned Serpico problem. When some cops are fired for seemingly trivial issues while others are given a pass for egregious conduct it sets bad examples. It tells Officers who to follow, which lies are okay and where things stand in regards to the Blue Wall of Silence. This is how a cancer grows in a department. A blind and subservient government is how it remains untreated and metastasizes.
This year, thanks to this blog, we learned that Fullerton PD and Fullerton City Hall worked to enter into an agreement in order to shield Lieutenant Kathryn Hamel from the disclosure of her crimes. The city was willing to stop investigations in order to protect her, the wife of Irvine Police Chief Mike Hamel, from any sustained findings of dishonesty which would have made her crimes public records under the CA law known as SB1421.
Currently there is an also an officer, Jeff Corbett, being charged with a felony for falsifying his reports as related to the drinking and driving of former Fullerton City Manager Joe Felz in November 2016. That Sergeant was only terminated after a friend of this blog filed a citizen complaint which triggered an investigation which led to a sustained finding of dishonesty. Only AFTER that investigation was concluded in September of 2017 did FPD open their own investigation and terminate Corbett.
These are current issues at the Fullerton Police Department as ignored by our current City Council, City Hall and police brass.
The hearings over Irish’s termination went through 2016 and well into 2017 while Sergeant Corbett was being given a pass for clearly violating department policy during the Felz incident. This is at best an inconsistent application of policy and a strong indicator of favoritism in the department – ergo, cancer.
If you think I’m being hyperbolic about comparing Paul Irish to Frank Serpico in premise, in the notion that the Department will crush one of their own to cover their corruption or incompetence – remember that I’m being sued, along with David Curlee and this blog, for allegedly clicking links and posting stories that showed police misconduct. Stories that showed the Kathryn Hamel deal. A story about a pervert cop at Fullerton High School that FPD and City Hall wanted kept secret. The city has never disputed those stories, or others – they’ve just demanded we remove the truth from this site while defaming us as thieves and hackers.
Your tax dollars are being used to punish us not because we allegedly clicked links and thus broke a federal law in the process. We’re being sued because we, yet again, embarrassed Fullerton PD by pointing out corruption and malfeasance and my records requests, if fulfilled as required by law, would embarrass them further. They’re using your money and the courts to intimidate and attempt to silence us because we again stepped out of line. We got in the way of the Blue Wall of Silence and both those in uniform and those in charge at City Hall are too self-interested and too cowardly to stand up for what is right. Too worried about their pensions, campaign dollars and cronyism to be ethical. They preach integrity and practice treachery.
Sadly the tale of Paul Irish is just another in a long line of such stories. A story of the government using it’s weight to silence dissent. A story about government arrogance crushing a voice even when it comes in the form of an officer talking about the things the Police Department hypocritically displays on their own walls. Ethics used during times of convenience are no ethics at all.
A lot has happened in Fullerton over the last several years and while my involvement has waned ever since the City threatened me civilly and criminally because I happen to be associated with this blog, and this blog published embarrassing things City Hall would rather hide from the people, I have remained committed to finding the truth and speaking up against the vapid and self-serving corruption of our council majority & the city hall they oversee.
In my capacity as a chronic malcontent these last few years I have made numerous records requests looking for information and many of those requests have been ignored, delayed or denied owing to dubious legal claims or just outright misrepresentations of the law. As such I have opted to sue the city of Fullerton for violations of the California Public Records Act.
The now filed Petition for Writ of Mandate alleges that the City of Fullerton has violated the CPRA in regards to my records requests related to no less than 5 separate issues.
Back when I first started filing requests, specifically for the body worn camera and dash cam videos of the Joe Felz DUI incident, the city was able to hide behind a lack of enforceable disclosure laws as SB1421 was not yet the law of the land. Cities did/do this because they know it takes a lot of time, effort and commitment to make them comply with disclosure laws.
Here in Fullerton the arrogance got so bad that they didn’t even try to hide their disdain for the public and transparency. At one point after claiming the Felz video was exempt from disclosure owing to the non-existent sham investigation, City Attorney Gregory Palmer asserted to me; “If you are dissatisfied with the response you have remedies”.
“You have remedies”
Skip ahead a few years and it turns out I DO have remedies and I have opted to act upon them. Hence this lawsuit.
For those interested, the lawsuit reads as follows (after the jump, emphasis in original, exhibits in the Writ link above):
This blog revealed the other day that according to former Fullerton PD Sergeant Corbett, he essentially let former City Manager Joe Felz skate on DUI/Hit-and-Run charges because the former Police Chief Dan Hughes told him to just run a “physical assessment.“
Did Corbett think that Hughes would cover for him and have his back? We have two pieces of information that look like they lend themselves to that assumption.
The first is a photo that was entered into the record during another officer’s termination investigation. It was photographed inside the locker an officer’s locker at FPD:
This photo appears to be a photoshopped poster for the 1987 movie “The Untouchables” with Dan Hughes’ face where Al Capone’s is on the original poster.
The other faces on the poster are said to be those of Sgt. Gharah, Sgt. Corbett, Sgt. Radus & Sgt. Petropulos.
To be fair, this poster of “The Untouchables” doesn’t mean these men thought they were untouchable and that they’d cover for one-another, but it certainly sets a questionable tone in an environment where ethics and accountability should be paramount.
The question the poster forces us to ask is if any of these men thought they were untouchable and that leads us to our next bit of information.
There has long been a rumor floating around Fullerton PD that Sergeant Jeffrey Corbett was involved in an incident where it was alleged he was having relations with a woman not his wife in his patrol vehicle.
It looks as if there might be more to those allegations than mere rumor and innuendo.
PSB #2013-96
Other Misconduct
Sergeant Jeff Corbett
Potential Policy Violations:
340.3.5 (z) Performance
706.3 Use of City Vehicle
706.3.5 Authorized Passengers
Recommendation to Staff: Not Within Policy
Suspension – 40 hours
Approved
That reference, PSB #2013-96 means that this suspension took place in 2013 and was investigated by the Professional Standards Bureau (also known as Internal Affairs).
Here are the code citations:
340.3.5 (z) Performance:
Any other on-duty or off-duty conduct which any employee knows or reasonably should know is unbecoming a member of the Department or which is contrary to good order, efficiency or morale, or which tends to reflect unfavorably upon the Department or its members.
706.3 Use of City Vehicle:
City-owned vehicles shall only be used for official business and, when approved, for commuting to allow members to respond to department-related business outside their regular work hours. Members shall not operate a City-owned vehicle at any time when impaired by drugs and/or alcohol. Any member operating a vehicle equipped with a two-way communications radio, MDC and/or a GPS device shall ensure the devices are on and set to an audible volume whenever the vehicle is in operation.
706.3.5 Authorized Passengers:
Members operating City-owned vehicles shall not permit persons other than City members or persons required to be conveyed in the performance of duty, or as otherwise authorized, to ride as a passenger in their vehicle.
We know based on this info that Corbett had somebody in his car who shouldn’t have been and he did something that was considered “unbecoming a member of the Department”. For these findings, he was given a 40 hour suspension which for all we know was a paid vacation by way of “Admin Leave”.
If Corbett and Hughes were two of the “untouchables” and in 2013 Chief Hughes allowed Corbett to walk with a slap on the wrist for alleged improprieties on duty in a patrol vehicle – what else did Corbett believe Hughes would cover for him and vice-versa?
This would seem to put the Joe Felz accident into a different light and it certainly deserves looking into but don’t expect our City Council, City Manager or District Attorney to bother.
This blog has written countless stories about the sordid tale of former Fullerton City Manager Joe Felz’s Wild Ride back on Election Night 2016 when he hit a tree and allegedly attempted to flee the scene of the crime.
This blog actually filed a complaint with the city which led to the firing of Sergeant Jefferey Corbett who is now facing a felony rap over this incident.
For context we also wrote about when former Chief Danny Hughes said the following at a nuisance hearing back in 2017 (emphasis added):
“When there is a, especially in the city of Fullerton, where there is somebody, whether it be a City Council Member or in this particular case the City Manager, those types of incidents are gonna, what I would describe, blow up. No matter what that decision is made regarding the outcome of that case there there will be allegations and conspiracy theories and all sorts of information that comes from that.”
Really we’ve been watching this story since it started and now we have some salient details to share with you good citizens. So let us put Hughes’ conspiracy take to the test.
Here is FPD’s version of the actual events that happened on election night 2016 starting with what Officer Gibert told the investigators tasked with looking into the complaint against the FPD handling of the Joe Felz DUI incident (emphasis added):
“Gibert said he had six and a half years of experience as a police officer. Gibert said he had conducted approximately 700 D.U.I. investigations and assisted in an additional 150 to 200 D.U.I. investigations. Gibert acknowledged that he was taught to enforce the law without any favor.”
I asked Gibert to tell me what he recalled regarding his involvement from the collision investigation involving former City Manager, Joe Felz. Gibert told me the following:”
The radio call was of a vehicle collision. While Gibert was on his way to the location, dispatch advised the vehicle was trying to leave the scene. Gibert was the first officer on-scene and as he arrived, he saw the vehicle travelling west bound. The vehicle appeared to be disabled, but was still partially moving. Gibert then initiated a vehicle stop and as a result, the vehicle came to a halt. As he was exiting his unit, the vehicle began to move again. Gibert put his unit back into drive not knowing if the vehicle was going to try to leave. They moved a very short distance and came to a complete stop. Gibert then placed the front of his police unit bumper up against the vehicle’srear bumper in case he tried to flee again. Gibert explained that he tried to pin his unit up against the vehicle so the suspect would not endanger any civilians; this also positioned Gibert to possibly conduct a P.I.T. maneuver if it were necessary.”
At that point in time, the vehicle stopped. Gibert believed Corporal Jim Boline was next on–scene and walked up on his passenger side. They ordered the driver (Joe Felz) out of the vehicle. Gibert had the Felz facing away from him. As Gibert placed Felz’s hands behind his back, he identified himself as Fullerton City Manager, Joe Felz. Gibert stopped his investigation or any questioning at that time and had Felz sit on the front bumper of his police unit. Gibert then requested for a Sergeant to respond to the location.“
But then, oddly these bits come out:
“As he was handling the traffic collision, he chose to not mark “hit and run” on the form because of the distance from Felz’s vehicle to where the initial collision occurred.”
He had to do force the vehicle to stop and prepare for a P.I.T. maneuver but didn’t consider it a hit and run? That makes little to no sense.
That then compounds another problem:
“I asked Gibert if he was aware of the email sent by C.S.I. Technician Victoria Mayhew to Lieutenant Mike Chocek. Gibert said he was not familiar with the email. As a result, I read him the content of the email. Gibert commented by stating the portion of the email involving him was accurate. Once Mayhew arrived on scene, Gibert told her to just photograph the damaged tree. Gibert said he was trying to limit the exposure of how many people were involved with this case.Gibert stated that C.S.I. would not normally photograph the vehicle since this was not a hit and run investigation.”
Gibert, with 700 DUI investigations under his belt, saw Felz try to flee a scene and smelled alcohol on the suspect. Owing to Felz’s position of authority a Sergeant was called. That Sergeant was Jeffery Corbett.
“On September 7, 2017, FPD Records personnel performed a CAD search to reveal how many DUI investigations Sergeant Jeff Corbett conducted within the last 5 years. Zero investigations were located.“
For a DUI investigation an Officer with 700 DUI investigations was replaced by one with 0 in five years. In fact, Corbett wasn’t even certified as a Drug Recognition Expert according to Officer Franke:
“Corbett was decertified as a D.R.E. because he did not submit the required recertification paperwork to Sacramento. To Franke’s knowledge, Corbett has not attempted to get recertified as a D.R.E. since then.”
Everything Corbett did looks to have been wrong and done simply to not collect evidence.
“In regards to the Walk & Turn test, Franke’s overall feeling was as if Corbett was conducting a cursory, “Lets hurry up and get this done; I want to see what you’re able to do and not do” type of investigation.”
“According to Franke, it would have been fair for the people of California to see if Felz was or was not intoxicated. It would have also offered the opportunity to offer exculpatory evidence that would have been fair to Felz. What Corbett did on scene, was a “Gross deviation” of the training he received in the past from Franke and the D.R.E. Program. Franke stated that it seemed as though the test was stopped to prevent any more incriminating evidence to be revealed.”
It goes on to explain what Corbett did and why he claims to have done it and here are the big takeaways (emphasis added):
“I then asked what Corbett meant when he told Officer Haid, “Nobody has done any FSTs, nobody’s done a breathalyzer, so technically we don’t have to go deuce, we can just a do a TC and drive him back.”Corbett said he had already spoken to the Watch Commander (Lieutenant Goodrich) and Chief Hughes at that point and he was explaining to Haid that he was not aware what part of the incident was to be handled by Fullerton PD. Corbett added that he did in fact know that Fullerton PD was at least going to handle the traffic collision report portion of the incident. I asked Corbett to elaborate on what he meant because his answer was not directly answering my question, nor was it making sense. Corbett then added that he was trying not to reveal too much too Haid of what he and Chief Hughes spoke about via telephone. At that point in the interview, I told Corbett that phone records indicated his conversation with Haid was in fact after his first call to Goodrich, but before his calls to Chief Hughes. Corbett then said that did not change anything because he was still waiting on a call back to see what direction the Chief wanted the investigation to take.“
“I asked why it took approximately 1-hour to start the FSTs. Corbett replied stating that the back and forth phone calls caused the delay in having Felz start the tests. I asked Corbett when he last conducted a DUI investigation on his own. Corbett said about 1-year prior to the incident.”
“Sergeant Corbett said no he was not trained that way, but was only asked by Chief Hughes to obtain a preliminary assessment and that’s why he only had Joe Felz do those two tests.“
“Sergeant Corbett stated that he specifically remembered Chief Hughes requesting either a “couple” or a “few” tests for the “assessment”. I asked Sergeant Corbett if he interpreted that as two tests and he said yes.”
“I asked Corbett if he had knowledge of the on-scene officers’ expertise as it relates to D.U.I. investigations. Corbett stated yes, but Chief Hughes instructed him to be the lead.“
“I asked Corbett if he remembered asking Joe Felz if he had recently been drinking alcohol that morning and he said yes. I asked Corbett if he could remember Joe Felz’sresponse and it was, “Yes.” Corbett said he asked this question because he could actually smell alcohol on Felz’s breath. I then asked why Corbett did not have any follow-up questions after Joe Felz admitted to have consumed alcohol. Corbett again stressed that he was not conducting a full D.U.I. investigation and only wanted to obtain basic information to report back the Chief Hughes. I then asked Corbett why he didn’t ask Joe Felz if he had been drinking prior to the two tests he had him perform. Corbett again said he did not ask Joe Felz prior to the FSTs because he was only asked to do a preliminary assessment.”
“I then asked if Corbett has ever terminated his questioning after asking the subject if they had been drinking like he did with Felz in the past. Corbett did not directly answer my question and again said he was only asked by Chief Hughes to get a physical assessment.“
“I asked Corbett if he remembered turning the 502 form in with the police report and he responded by saying that there was “no need to.” I asked Corbett to explain why he thought it was not necessary to turn in the form. Corbett said it was irrelevant because there was no arrest. I asked if Corbett still had the 502 form or if he discarded it. Corbett said it was discarded.”
“I asked why there was a delay in Corbett downloading his body-worn-camera and he did not recall or explain why that occurred.”
“I asked Corbett if he remembered showing Chief Hughes a printed copy of his police report draft. I asked why he showed the report to Hughes prior to it being sent through the normal Versadex chain. Corbett said Chief Hughes requested it. I asked if it was normal operating procedure for him to show a draft of the police report on a Word document as opposed to submitting it via the internal report database (Versadex). Corbett said it was normal because that is how it was requested by Chief Hughes.”
“Corbett wanted to make it clear that his actions were just a “preliminary assessment” of Joe Felz’s intoxication level. Corbett said that if he was conducting a full D.U.I. investigation, he would have had Felz perform more tests and the 502 form would have been completed which included all associated questions found on the form. Corbett did not go that route because he was directed by Chief Hughes who only wanted a simple “assessment of Felz’ intoxication level”. Corbett was asked by Chief Hughes to perform a couple tests and that’s what he did. Once Corbett obtained the assessment, he called Chief Hughes to relay the information. Corbett then was waiting to see if he was going to handle the rest of the investigation or relinquish the incident to another agency. Corbett again said that he would have done more if he was told to investigate further.“
It certainly reads like Danny Hughes misled the city council at the very least and orchestrated the Felz cover-up from the start.
Hughes claimed in his letter to council the following:
“I informed the Watch Commander that I would call the sergeant to obtain additional information and that I would have the field sergeant conduct a preliminary assessment by performing Field Sobriety Tests and if the sergeant believed there was a level of intoxication that met the criteria to be a violation of the law, we would contact the CHP to investigate.”
The CHP were not contacted and Sergeant Corbett did not conduct a full investigation.
Word has reached me that Fullerton might have leak problem – and that problem is that City Manager Ken Domer is quite mad that people would dare tell the public the things he intends to hide from us.
Such things as our Chief of Police and a Captain being caught up alleged Felony Battery on an EMT charges.
Or that one of our now former officers is being indicted for his cover-up work on the Joe Felz DUI incident.
When I first heard the rumors that Domer was hopping mad about the “leaks” coming out I brushed it off as hearsay. Then I heard it again from a different source. And again. And again still.
At this juncture I’m willing to chalk this rumor up as “Credible but without citation”.
If our city management would worry more about what their own staff is doing and the corruption therein and would be honest about it we wouldn’t need to rely on leaks from anonymous sources. And without those leaks, Domer would have nothing to be mad about in the first place.
Ultimately if he is mad it’s because he believes himself to be a part of the Ruling Elite above we the chattel and is more worried about appearances than solving problems.
The funny part for me is that I’ve tried to cultivate leaks within the city to no avail. All of the people who know me in City Hall are smart enough to not tell me anything for fear of guilt by association.
Yet here we are breaking stories of corruption and malfeasance and we get these leaks at FFFF because enough employees are fed up with the nonsense happening in Fullerton and FPD.
I salute the people who have sent us information because one of the last things Fullerton needs these days is a continuing culture of cover-ups. We respect your privacy and value the contribution to improving accountable, intelligent, and responsible leadership in our town’s government.
Here is the actual copy of the Felony Complaint filed by the District Attorney’s office against Fullerton Police Sergeant Jeff Corbett as we mentioned was coming earlier today:
The charge is as follows:
118.1 PC False Report by a Peace Officer – Felony
For those who are curious here is what that CA Penal Code is:
Every peace officer who files any report with the agency which employs him or her regarding the commission of any crime or any investigation of any crime, if he or she knowingly and intentionally makes any statement regarding any material matter in the report which the officer knows to be false, whether or not the statement is certified or otherwise expressly reported as true, is guilty of filing a false report punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year, or in the state prison for one, two, or three years. This section shall not apply to the contents of any statement which the peace officer attributes in the report to any other person.
My suspicion that it was related to Felz’s accident was spot on, though it looks like it was done without (or around) the Grand Jury. Danny Hughes clearly threw Corbett under the bus and was given a pass.
Who wants to lay odds that this goes to trial or that the “false report” sees the light of day.
