New Misconduct Allegations Against San Francisco Police as 26 Cases Dropped

Twenty-six felony cases have been dismissed by San Francisco Prosecutors that involve misconduct allegations against the San Francisco Police Department. All 26 cases that were dropped on May 27, 2011, involve Mission Station officers that are currently under investigation for illegal searches, perjury, and theft.

At a news conference, San Francisco Jeff Adachi showed surveillance footage of an April 22, 2010 arrest that stood in sharp contrast to the sworn police report describing the incident. (more here)

In that case, police arrested 49-year-old Jesus Inastrilla in front of a Tenderloin bar for drug sales. In a sworn police report, Officer Peter Richardson wrote that officers Jacob Fegan, Ricardo Guerrero, Robert Sanchez, who were working undercover, arrested Inastrilla after Inastrilla spit a crack rock into his hand to sell it to Guerrero. However, the video shows no exchange between the two men. One of Inastrilla’s hands remains on his cell phone throughout the video, while his other hand is in his pocket.

Charges were dropped against Inastrilla May 7, 2010 after Guerrero claimed he could not find the alleged seized drugs in evidence, according to Inastrilla’s attorney, Erica Franklin. Franklin later lodged a complaint with the Office of Citizen Complaints on behalf of her client. The OCC also found that the video was inconsistent with the police report.

In a second case of possible misconduct revealed Friday, Mission District residents Javier and Mariette Tenorio produced a sworn declaration against Sgt. Kevin Healy, Sanchez, Guerrero, Fegan and Richardson, alleging police illegally searched their residence and left with their valuables.