Details on officer misconduct emerge as departments begin sharing secret police files under new law

A San Diego County college police officer quietly left his job in 2016 after he was accused of fondling part-time dispatchers.

A veteran Pomona police officer resigned under pressure in 2016 for having sex with an underage waitress he met while on duty.

And two Brea police officers were allowed to resign for dishonesty — one sold Brea police patches on eBay for $95 each while on duty, and the other failed to arrest a former girlfriend he suspected of driving drunk.

Records detailing the misconduct cases were among the first released in Southern California under a new police transparency law that took effect Jan. 1. Police unions throughout California are fighting in court to keep secret law enforcement personnel records. But the documents dribbling out under SB 1421, a bill authored by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, offer a peek at what lies behind the blue curtain.

The unions contend in court that the law — which requires the release of documents involving police use of deadly force and confirmed cases of sexual assault and dishonesty — doesn’t apply to incidents that occurred before Jan. 1. That means only records dealing with incidents beginning in 2019 can be disclosed, the unions contend.

Media coalitions are battling the unions, fighting for what they say is the true intent of the law, that all existing records are subject to disclosure.

A judge in Contra Costa County ruled recently that the law is, indeed, retroactive. But the lower court decision is not precedent-setting. A ruling in Orange County Superior Court also is expected any day. Ultimately, lawyers say, the issue will have to be settled by the state Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, some departments not restricted by a court order — including the Pomona, Brea and Palomar College police departments — have elected to comply with the law. Names of witnesses and victims have been redacted from their documents.

At the 30,000-student Palomar College in San Marcos, Magauli “Vic” So’oto, 56, served as a public safety officer since at least 2012 and earned about $101,295 yearly in salary and benefits, according to records kept by Transparent California and LexisNexis websites. He previously worked for the Oceanside Police Department, with the agency listed as his home address since 2002.

Documents obtained by Southern California News Group under SB 1421 show that in March 2016, So’oto allegedly forced his hand down a dispatcher’s blouse and caressed her breasts while she was on a ride-along. The dispatcher had just finished her shift.

So’oto also drove to an adjacent hotel and suggested they get a room so he could give her a “full-body rubdown.” She asked to be driven back to the police station, the documents said.

According to the investigation report, So’oto allegedly fondled the shoulders of another female dispatcher and gave unsolicited back rubs to women in the station. He also was accused of unwanted sexual comments.

So’oto denied any wrongdoing during the internal investigation, which concluded he had been dishonest and had violated sexual harassment statutes.

“There was credible evidence to conclude that Officer So’oto had placed his hand down (her) blouse and offered physical resistance and restraint when she attempted to move away from him and/or remove his hand,” said the investigation for the college by attorney Jeffrey B. Love.

“This fact finder concludes that Officer So’oto was not truthful in order to mask his inappropriate behavior in an attempt to evade responsibility for his violations of policy and law. As such, the allegations are all, therefore, sustained.”

In Pomona, Stephen Perez was a 20-year corporal accused of having sex with a 17-year-old waitress he had been warned to stay away from, documents showed.

An investigation revealed that Perez, then 42, allegedly took the girl overnight to a Palm Springs hotel and had some kind of intimate relations with the her at the Pomona Police Officers’ Association headquarters.

Investigators found that Perez visited the girl’s home 40 to 50 times and texted her 4,550 times, including after he had been ordered not have any contact with her. Perez was estranged from his wife at the time of the relationship, the reports show.

“(You) claim that your off-duty conduct had no nexus to your job as corporal,” wrote former Police Chief Paul Capraro. “I find this argument absurd, given that one of your core duties was to investigate, arrest and assist in the prosecution of suspects charged (with) criminal conduct, including those charged with having illicit sexual intercourse with a minor.”

In Brea, Sgt. Michael Petronella was selling official department patches on eBay under the moniker “Patchhore.” An administrator saw the ad in 2014 and realized it looked similar to others that Petronella had posted in the past under the name, “Hobosurplus.”

The administrator, according to an investigative report, believed that Petronella would never again sell department property after he was warned previously. But there they were, Brea shoulder patches available for $95.

When asked, Petronella said he took the patches from a box that was just lying around. He told an interviewer that a lot of people collect police patches and he was unconcerned that they would be sold to people who could masquerade as cops.

In 2017, Brea Officer Jake Bogosian pulled over a car driven by a woman he had dated. She had a male passenger. Bogosian smelled alcohol on her breath and had her blow into a portable breathalyzer — she hit 0.153, almost twice the legal limit. Bogosian showed the breath test results to the driver, but did not look at them himself, documents said.

He told investigators he thought other officers were too busy to help him make an arrest, so he ordered the driver to call an Uber and let her off with a warning. In reality, five other  officers were available to help, said the investigative report.

Less than 20 minutes later, Bogosian saw the same truck being driven by the male passenger, who also allegedly was drunk.

Bogosian pulled him over and arrested him on suspicion of driving intoxicated, this time calling for backup from other officers.