By R. Scott Moxley
After spending hours on March
31 interviewing multiple sources knowledgeable about Orange County Sheriff's
Department (OCSD) corruption involving a jail informant program defense lawyers
label dirty, a low-flying OCSD helicopter crew spent more than 40 minutes tailing
me everywhere I drove in three different cities.
According to an OCSD spokesman,
the crew headed by pilot Erik Baum is asserting an alibi: They were providing
aerial "perimeter" support for Westminster Police Department (WPD)
officers writing a routine report on a previous residential burglary call in a
low-income neighborhood where there were no fleeing suspects.
Westminster is not a contract
city for OCSD helicopter services, but Baum's story is that he just happened to
have been flying in the region precisely when I arrived and he decided this
particular burglary report, one of more than 10,000 taken in the county
annually, became his priority for 48 minutes.
Asked to explain what made this
burglary special enough to divert the use of a valuable public asset from the
rest of the 948-square mile county, the department spokesman declined to
elaborate other than to say Duke, the call name for the helicopter, was
requested by WPD.
But the airborne law
enforcement crew was not in Westminster or near the burglary location when they
began tailing me and, though I eventually drove through that city, the
helicopter continuously followed me to a third city during the time of the
alleged perimeter support.
Staff ignored my request to
interview to Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, who is seeking re-election, about the
incident.
OCSD plane and helicopter
pilots, who technically aren't supposed to use public property for personal
vendettas but routinely dive-bombed my residence at all hours of the day and
night, historically operate with little or no meaningful oversight.
Taken from extensive video of
the helicopter tail, here are sample images captured at different times and
different locations in three cities
