At least one third of the police force in a small Northern California city have been arrested on a slew of embezzlement, threats and bribery charges.
King City law enforcement is currently in hot water, after a six-month probe into the police department revealed a range of illegal activities and schemes, including one to impound poor families' cars, Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo told the Salinas Californian.
The investigation showed that Hispanic families struggling with finances were targeted in the scheme.
"These people said, 'They are taking our property, they're taking our cars, they're taking our money and we can do nothing about that,'" Filippo said on Tuesday.
At least 200 cars were impounded during this time. 87 percent of these tows were carried out by the same company.
Six law enforcement officials were arrested this week for bribe and embezzlement-related charges.
Ex-police Chief Nick Baldiviez was charged with embezzlement by a public officer, current acting Chief Bruce Miller has been accused of accepting a bribe and Sgt. Bobby Carrillo was charged with conspiracy to carry out a crime, taking a bribe, and bribing an executive officer, the Californian reported. Meanwhile, Sgt. Mark Baker has been charged with criminal threats against a citizen, Officer Mario Mottu reportedly embezzled, and Officer Jaime Andrade was charged with illegal storage of a gun and possession of an assault weapon.
Owner of the towing company in question Brian Albert Miller was also arrested, along with the brother of the acting police chief, who reportedly bribed an executive officer and conspired to commit a crime.
All of the people who were taken into police custody were released from jail within a few hours.
Carillo reportedly got a free car for each 10-15 vehicles he impounded, and in the end, allegedly collected five cars. He then gave one to police Captain Bruce Miller.
Prosecutors have also accused Baldiviez of throwing a 2001 Ford Crown Victoria car to Mottu. Legal representatives told the Californian that they have reason to believe the cars belonged to either King City, or the King City Police Explorers, an organization beneath the Boy Scouts of America.
"There has been a significant breakdown in the internal leadership of the King City Police Department," Flippo said. "It also appears to me that some officers have dishonored their badge."
