BY EYDER PERALTA
A federal grand jury has
indicted five San Francisco police officers on charges ranging from extortion
to dealing drugs to illegally intimidating suspects.
The AP reports that the cases
stem from the release of surveillance videos in 2011. They showed officers walking
through "low-income" hotel rooms, illegally searching them and
stealing property from suspects.
The San Francisco Chronicle
reports:
"According to indictments
unsealed Thursday, Officers Arshad Razzak, 41, Richard Yick, 36, and Raul Eric
Elias, 44, all formerly assigned to the Southern police station at the city's
Hall of Justice, are accused of conspiring to threaten and intimidate residents
of single-room occupancy hotel rooms by entering them without legal
justification by using a master key.
"Razzak and Yick also
allegedly falsified police incident reports.
"Sgt. Ian Furminger, 47,
Officer Edmond Robles, 46, and former Officer Reynaldo Vargas, 45, of Palm
Desert, engaged in 'multiple criminal conspiracies,' including dealing
marijuana, stealing money as well as a $500 Apple gift card and other items
from suspects, and stealing money, drugs and other valuable items that were
seized on behalf of the city, the indictment said.
"Vargas, who according to
records had served 13 years on the force when he was fired in May 2012, used
the Apple gift card to buy an iPhone and an iPod Nano at an Apple store in San
Francisco, authorities said. Elias has been with the department for 12 years,
Robles for 22 years."
The AP reports that the
misconduct has forced prosecutors to drop about 100 criminal cases the officers
were involved with.
Police Chief Greg Suhr said his
department is "shaken."
"This is not only a
betrayal of the public's trust," he said, "but also a betrayal of all
the men and women of the San Francisco Police Department who work hard every
day to do what they can to keep San Francisco safe."
Suhr said he would seek the
immediate termination of those officers found guilty of the charges against
them.
