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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Bell officials arrested as prosecutors are set to file criminal charges |
| 2010-09-22 |
| [LA Times] At least eight city of Bell officials were jugged Tuesday morning, a source said, as L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley prepared to announce criminal charges in the municipal salary scandal. Former Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo, whose high salary sparked the outrage that led to the investigations of the city, was among those jugged in the sweep. No details have been released, but a source not authorized to speak publicly about the case said that Rizzo; former Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia; Mayor Oscar Hernandez; Councilmembers Luis Artiga, Teresa Jacobo and George Mirabal; and former Councilmembers George Cole and Victor Bello were among those jugged. [Updated at 11:22 p.m.: Cooley filed charges against eight Bell officials Tuesday, alleging that they misappropriated $5.5 million in public funds. Rizzo has been charged with 53 counts of misappropriation of public funds and conflict of interest. Among those jugged were former city administrator Robert Rizzo, former assistant city manager Angela Spaccia, Mayor Oscar Hernandez, councilmembers George Mirabal, Teresa Jacobo, Luis Artiga and former councilmembers George Cole and Victor Bello. "This is corruption on steroids," Cooley said.] The charges are expected to be detailed at a morning press conference, according to a source with knowledge of the case who was not authorized to comment publicly. A witness told The Times he saw Councilman Luis Artiga taken away in handcuffs Tuesday morning. A neighbor of Hernandez said authorities used a battering ram on his front door after he failed to answer the door. "They broke the door down," said the neighbor, who only gave his name as Jose. "They knocked down the door and they brought him out in cuffs."] |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 "They knocked down the door and they brought him out in cuffs." I'd have loved to have the popcorn concession for that one. :-D |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-09-22 21:50 |
| #2 Pappy, someone wrote Glenn Reynolds when he mentioned the "name that party" game last night that the Cali local officials don't run on a party ticket. But I'm willing to bet a decent sum of money that all these clowns have previously self-identified as DemocRats. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-09-22 21:48 |
| #1 No party affiliation mentioned anywhere, in any of the articles. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-09-22 21:43 |