Danville Man Declined to Enter
Plea on Charges of Civil Rights Violations
Edmond Robles, 46, of Danville
is among 6 police officers who have been indicted
Autumn Johnson
Four San Francisco police
officers pleaded not guilty in federal court today to charges of conspiring to
violate civil rights and steal property, money and drugs seized during searches
and arrests.
The officers are four of six
charged in two separate federal indictments, issued under seal on Tuesday and
announced Thursday by U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, alleging that they conducted
illegal searches of single-room occupancy residential hotel rooms and stole
seized property between 2009 and 2011.
Officers Arshad Razzak, 41, of
San Francisco, Richard Yick, 37, of San Francisco, and Raul Eric Elias, 44, of
San Mateo, each pleaded not guilty in the courtroom of U.S. Magistrate
Elizabeth Laporte to six counts they allegedly committed while working at San
Francisco's Southern Station in 2010 and 2011.
Sgt. Ian Furminger, 47, of
Pleasant Hill, pleaded not guilty to five counts allegedly committed while he
was working at the department's Mission Station in 2009 and 2010. Another
officer named in that indictment, Officer Edmond Robles, 46, of Danville,
declined to enter a plea today while a former officer also charged, Reynaldo
Vargas, 45, of Palm Desert, entered a plea on Thursday.
All six men have been granted
release on $50,000 bond. The allegations first surfaced in March 2011 when San
Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi began to release a series of video
surveillance tapes from single-room-occupancy hotels that allegedly showed
plainclothes officers conducting illegal searches during drug busts.
Speaking to reporters after
today's hearing, Razzak's attorney, Michael Rains, said that the length of time
between the officers being accused and the indictment being filed indicates
that the federal government did not believe that it had a strong enough case to
bring charges against the officers.
"The government sat on
this case for three years and allowed these guys to languish at their
jobs," Rains said. Rains said that given the length of time that the
federal government has been investigating the case, he expects that the
evidence has previously been presented to grand juries who did not issue an
indictment.
Even so, he expects the case to
go to trial, but likely not for about a year. Police Chief Greg Suhr said
Thursday that the department was "shaken" by the allegations and that
the five officers still serving with the department have been suspended without
pay. Suhr said that if convicted, they would be fired.
San Francisco Police Officers
Association president Mark Halloran today questioned Suhr's judgment in making
that statement, saying that the officers involved "deserve to have their
day in court."
"They're all hardworking
officers, they're dedicated to this city," Halloran said. "They know
their job, they've been doing it efficiently for many years."
In the first indictment, the
three officers formerly assigned to the Police Department's Southern Station,
Razzak, Yick and Elias, are alleged to have conspired to "injure, oppress,
threaten and intimidate" hotel occupants by entering and searching their
rooms without legal justification.
The officers are accused of two
additional counts of illegally searching two rooms in December 2010 and January
2011. Razzak and Yick are also each charged with two counts of falsifying
police reports and an informant payment record.
In the second indictment, the
officers from the Mission Station, Vargas, Furminger, and Robles, are accused
of three conspiracies: plotting to violate civil rights by stealing money and
property from people arrested; conspiring to sell drugs; and scheming to steal
seized money, property and drug evidence from the Police Department.
The indictment also accuses the
three men of selling marijuana in 2009 and stealing more than $5,000 worth of
property from the department in 2009 and 2010. If convicted, the officers could
face lengthy prison terms.
Elias, Yick and Razzak have
been ordered to return to court Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Richard
Seeborg, while Furminger, Robles and Vargas are ordered to return Wednesday
before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer.