|
New report has claim of pressure from Sheriff Jim Anderson |
|
|
Written by Administrator
|
|
Friday, 18 November 2005 |
|
[b]New report has claim of pressure from sheriff[/b]
11/18/05
By DAWN HOBBS
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Edgecomb said sheriff urged him not to file charges
[b]Businessman Chris Edgecomb, former president of the Sheriff's Council, told investigators that he was personally pressured by Sheriff Jim Anderson not to file charges after a scuffle at department headquarters, according to a previously undisclosed investigative report released on Thursday.[/b]
The district attorney's report states that Mr. Edgecomb said the sheriff urged him not to file charges after the Nov. 18, 2004, fracas with then council president Jim Towle who allegedly poked and pushed Mr. Edgecomb.
During an interview with a sheriff's investigator, Mr. Edgecomb described a phone conversation with the sheriff who told him "to settle it and that arresting (Towle) wouldn't help, that it wouldn't be good for him, the Sheriff, and that it would look very bad," according to the report.
Mr. Edgecomb said he backed down, the report states, because "he had been 'pressured' not to follow through with his complaint .Ê.Ê. and that the pressure 'came from the top.'"
When the investigator asked Mr. Edgecomb if he meant the sheriff, "Edgecomb stated 'yes,' " according to the report.
Through a statement supplied by Sgt. Erik Rainey, Sheriff's Department spokesman, Sheriff Anderson denied on Thursday that he pressured Mr. Edgecomb.
The district attorney's report, which had been confidential until Thursday, offers new details about the scuffle in a Sheriff's Department conference room. Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon did not return News-Press phone calls concerning the report.
Among other things, Mr. Edgecomb told the DA's investigators he had received calls from Sheriff Anderson, who told him "he was between a rock and a hard spot."
The report states that Mr. Edgecomb said the sheriff asked him if removing Mr. Towle from the Sheriff's Council would put the matter to rest. Mr. Edgecomb replied it was "fair resolution given he did not want any negative press for the Sheriff's Council."
Mr. Edgecomb told a sheriff's investigator on Dec. 6, 2004, nearly three weeks after the incident, that he no longer wished to press charges against Mr. Towle.
In a letter to the editor of the News-Press, published Nov. 13, Sheriff Anderson wrote, "As the incident was investigated, Mr. Edgecomb ultimately decided that he did not want the Sheriff's Department to take further action."
Since the News-Press first reported on the incident on Oct. 27, Mr. Towle pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace and resigned from the Sheriff's Council. Sheriff Anderson backed away from an attempt to oust Mr. Edgecomb from the council, a nonprofit group that has raised millions to buy equipment for the department.
Mr. Edgecomb also told DA's investigators that Andy Granatelli, a key Sheriff's Council fundraiser, called him after the incident and pressured him not to file charges against Mr. Towle, according to the report.
Mr. Granatelli, according to Mr. Edgecomb, told him that "Towle was too big of a contributor to be removed from the Council and that Towle was going to stay," the report states.
Mr. Edgecomb told investigators that Mr. Granatelli said if he filed charges "it would be the worst thing he could do and that he would never be able to go out," and that it would "hurt our sheriff," according to the report.
In another call, Mr. Edgecomb said, Mr. Granatelli told him he would "quit the council if Towle was not allowed back on."
"Granatelli told Edgecomb that Towle would buy a $50,000 table for the coming year if he was reinstated," the report states.
Sheriff Anderson also called again and told Mr. Edgecomb that "he was under a lot of pressure from Mr. Granatelli to reinstate Towle because if he didn't Granatelli would quit, and the Sheriff's Council would crumble," the report states.
In an interview Thursday night, Mr. Granatelli acknowledged calling Mr. Edgecomb to suggest he not file charges because it was a minor matter. Mr. Granatelli also said he never threatened to resign from the council.
"Eight months later, lady .Ê.Ê. I don't understand what is so important about this story that it has to keep being raked over the coals. You're killing the Sheriff's Council," Mr. Granatelli said.
The sheriff has said that the scuffle at department headquarters, which he witnessed and attempted to prevent, was a minor incident and that Mr. Edgecomb overreacted. Both men were at fault, he said.
Sheriff Anderson has also questioned the motives of those who have criticized his handling of the incident. "It's politically motivated because I have not done anything wrong. I didn't try to influence this one way or the other."
The sheriff has said that he did not hear Mr. Edgecomb ask him or his deputies to arrest Mr. Towle.
However, three other witnesses, including two high-ranking members of the department, told the DA's investigators that they heard Mr. Edgecomb call for Mr. Towle's arrest, according to the report.
Cmdr. Jeff Meyer stated in his report that he heard the request at least twice. Sgt. Kelly Moore also heard a request from Mr. Edgecomb, according to the district attorney's report.
Sheriff's Council member John Lauritsen, a local attorney, walked into the conference room during the scuffle and saw Mr. Edgecomb on the floor, according to the report. Mr. Lauritsen told investigators that he heard Mr. Edgecomb say he wanted charges filed against Mr. Towle, according to the report.
The Sheriff's Department investigated the incident at the time but did not forward a report to the District Attorney's Office. That office investigated and filed charges against Mr. Towle after being contacted by the FBI, which had received a tip about the fracas.
A source whose name has not been released informed the FBI that a detailed report about a "physical attack" at headquarters was on file at the sheriff's office, according to the report.
The name of the FBI special agent who notified the Sheriff's Department about the tip was blacked out in the version of the report released to the News-Press.
The report states that the FBI reported: "The case had not been submitted to the District Attorney's office because of influence exerted on Sheriff Anderson by Sheriff's Council member Andy Granatelli."
Source: http://news.newspress.com/topsports/111805report.htm
|
|
News 
