By Liam Dillon.
Here are the groups of people that San Diego police officers don’t give tickets to, according to convicted ex-cop Anthony Arevalos: other cops, city attorneys and Chargers players.
The allegation appears in Arevalos’ recently unsealed deposition from a federal lawsuit against him and SDPD filed by an Arevalos sexual misconduct victim. Arevalos’ statements about cops receiving special treatment have come out before. But Chargers players are a curious addition to the list. Arevalos said he didn’t know whether Padres players received the same courtesy.
As part of the deposition, attorneys for the plaintiff in the case, a woman known in court papers as Jane Doe, tried to nail down who would get breaks from officers:
Attorney: Did it extend to the families of law enforcement officers, including D.A.’s and city attorneys?
Arevalos: That extends to lawyers, families and San Diego Charger (sic) players.
Attorney: OK. I want to make sure I have all the groups in there. So any type of lawyer and their family, correct?
Arevalos: If they work – somehow affiliated with the city, sure.
Attorney: Oh, OK. All right. And all of the Chargers and their family?
Arevalos: That’s correct.
Attorney: How about all the Padres?
Arevalos: I can’t recall.
Arevalos said every police chief he worked for during his almost 20 years on the force told him and other officers to look the other way for traffic tickets to these groups and, in some cases, for drunk-driving incidents.
Of course, Arevalos, who’s sitting in prison at the moment, is far from the most credible of sources. And a quick search reveals at least one then-Chargers player busted on a DUI charge — Antwan Applewhite in 2011. But what makes Arevalos’ comments about the Chargers players so eyebrow-raising is that they come out of nowhere in the deposition and aren’t prompted by lawyers.
Not surprisingly, current and past SDPD officials disputed what Arevalos said. Ex-Police Chief Jerry Sanders, who later became mayor and now runs the local Chamber of Commerce, said through a Chamber spokeswoman that there was “absolutely no truth” to Arevalos’ remarks. SDPD spokesman Kevin Mayer also said Arevalos is wrong.
“I would imagine there are people in each of these categories who would disagree with the allegation,” Mayer said.
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Originally posted at Voice of San Diego.