SAN FRANCISCO -For the second time in a week, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi accused police of stealing from drug suspects after releasing video footage Tuesday that shows two officers walk into a residential hotel empty-handed and leave with bags that were not booked into evidence.
The latest accusation brought an angry response from the head of the police officers' union, who said there was probably an innocent explanation and called Adachi a "media whore" who is staining the careers of good cops for political gain.
At a news conference at Adachi's office, the 65-year-old resident of the Mission District hotel room that was searched, Jesus Reyes, said he recognized one of the bags shown on video taken by surveillance cameras. He said the backpack had contained a Dell laptop computer, and that he was missing a Sony digital camera as well.
Adachi identified the plainclothes officer with the computer bag as Richard Guerrero, who faces similar allegations in a separate case, and the second officer as Reynaldo Vargas, who was once accused of slashing a suspect with a broken crack pipe.
Police allegedly found methamphetamine in Reyes' room at the Julian House Hotel on Julian Street during the Feb. 25 incident, but the district attorney's office dropped charges May 4 after Guerrero did not show up to court after being subpoenaed.
Police probe
Police officials said the allegations were being investigated by internal affairs, and that each officer in the arrest - five are seen on video - had been removed from plainclothes duty. Adachi identified the other three officers as Jacob Fegan, Christopher Servat and Adam Kujath.
"If it is determined through the investigation that the officers acted inappropriately, they will be disciplined," said Police Chief Greg Suhr, who was sworn in April 27 and was given the footage Friday. "This discipline will be swift and severe, up to and including termination."
The allegations came six days after Adachi released separate footage that he said showed Guerrero, in December, taking a duffel bag from a room at the Jefferson Hotel in the Tenderloin, a bag that was not booked into evidence. The suspect in that case - which was also dropped - said the bag had contained an iPod, tequila, coffee and other items.
Fifth video case
In five separate cases now since March, Adachi has drawn on video footage to allege that plainclothes officers conducted illegal searches or stole from suspects. Earlier revelations prompted the dismissal of nearly 100 cases and led the FBI to open a probe.
The union president, former narcotics inspector Gary Delagnes, said he had supervised or worked alongside Guerrero and other officers facing accusations. Guerrero, he said, was "my best undercover (officer) out there for 10 years. ... There's never been a single allegation that he has taken a dime."
Delagnes said he had spoken to Guerrero and that the officer didn't recall the backpack. However, Delagnes said, narcotics officers sometimes collect evidence in bags found at a scene and then throw away the bags.
"I'm guilty of it myself," he said. "Rather than book the $1 backpack, we throw it away."
He continued, "Why would you steal a $50 camera when you're probably seeing $100,000 a month in cash? These are top-level cops, and they're trying to allege they went over the wall for coffee, tequila and an iPod? It's ludicrous."
The search
Reyes, who said he was a retired maintenance man, also said the officers had searched his apartment without permission or a warrant.
Officer Fegan wrote in a report that an informant had told him that a man named "Jesus" was selling methamphetamine at the Julian House Hotel and drove a gray minivan. On Feb. 25, Fegan said, he approached Reyes - who fit the description - as he sat in a gray minivan. Fegan said Reyes had blurted, "I don't have anything, you could search me or my room."
Fegan said he had taken Reyes' keys and handed them to Guerrero, who allegedly found methamphetamine, packaging material and scales.
Reyes said that after spending several days in jail, he could not find his camera or the laptop, which belonged to a nephew.
"I never expected this," he said.
Crack-pipe slashing
Officer Vargas survived a serious disciplinary case in 2002, when he handcuffed a man accused of evading a cable car fare after a brief struggle.
According to disciplinary charges, Vargas put the suspect in a squad car and then, as he drove, jabbed him with a broken crack pipe that had been found near the man, shouting, "Eat it! Eat it!" before releasing his bleeding victim.
Vargas admitted to using too much force when the case was settled at the Police Commission in 2005. The man accepted $60,000 from the city to drop a lawsuit, and Vargas returned to duty. (source : sfgate.com)