(SEE NEW NOTE AT BOTTOM OF POST)
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Yesterday, former Hollenbeck officer Anthony Razo pleaded guilty to insurance fraud—namely setting alight his 2005 BMW 745Li for the insurance money. He also pleaded to falsely reporting to authorities that two bald Hispanic teenagers—read “vicious gang members”—shot him in the shoulder outside his home in City Terrace.
He actually shot himself.
He’ll do a year in jail, plus probation. The court also said Razo has to pay back the kindly LAPD officers who raised money for his medical bills.
I remember when I read the original news report a little over a month ago, about how two gangsters—one with a gun— had accosted Anthony Razo in his driveway. The report said they struggled and Razo dropped his service weapon. One of the gangsters bent over, grabbed Razo’s gun and shot him in the shoulder—wounding him “critically.” (Here’s the LA Times story from Feb 1.)
A near army of officers, LAPD and sheriffs, descended to investigated the crime, including gang specialists, a canine unit, even a gaggle of SWAT guys. Specialized LAPD officers guarded Razo’s home around the clock.
I took special note of the incident because I knew Razo’s name. I’d heard tales about him for years, in and around the Pico-Aliso housing projects of Boyle Heights where he used to work the gang detail. None of the tales were good. There were even a few accusations of planted evidence, one of them pretty credible. But, even if true, such things are nearly impossible to prove.
Yet, for this reason, I reread that first newspaper story a couple of times, and each time it seemed to me that something about the account didn’t sound right. For one thing, if the gangsters wanted to shoot him, why risk going for his dropped gun when they had one if their own? And why walk up and shoot him in the shoulder at close range? There was no logic to it. But then crime often was not logical.
As it turned out, of course, it didn’t make sense, because Razo made it up. The gangsters didn’t exist.
When the news broke last week that Razo had been arrested for torching his Beemer, and that he’d probably lied about the shooting too, some of community mothers I know expressed not one whit of surprise. “Yeah, well, we always knew he was dirty,” one of hem sighed on the phone in exasperation. “We tried to complain. We tried to tell people. But would they listen to us? No they wouldn’t.”
“I could line up ten people to tell you bad Razo stories,” said another friend.
Look: Most LA law enforcement officers are excellent people who take daily risks in our behalf, and to whom we owe a great deal. But a few are not. And, in most cases, the members of the communities in which they work can point out those few to anyone who cares to listen.
It needn’t require a burning BMW.
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NOTE OF CORRECTION: As a commenter rightly pointed out, I spelled Anthony Razo’s name wrong in more than half of my cites in the story—including (gulp) in the headline. (Razo is correct. Razzo is not.) For that I truly apologize. I would plead the lateness of the hour when I wrote the post, but frankly that isn’t a good excuse. The errors have been corrected now.
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AND SPEAKING OF GOOD COPS, Neon Tommy reporter (and Annenberg student) Len Ly talked to Sheriff Lee Baca about the expanding number of homeless in LA County and what he thinks we ought to do to help.
Razzo made it up
Fake but accurate?
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expanding number of homeless in LA County
Keep it down, Celeste. The liberal media wants everyone to believe that homelessness only grows when Republicans are in charge.
I also thought the whole shooting of Razo story stunk Celeste. Especially the part of the story about two bald headed gunmen accosting him at home at 4:00 am while he was going to play golf. It stunk, and the reporting by the LA Times, who fell for the “two bald headed” shooters lie, an old xenophobic code for Chicano gang members, it stunk too.
This is the direct result of the Bush and Cheney era. The police should be given free cars, free loans and attend weekly poetry readings. Let’s hope Obama increases the pay and benefits of all government employees. We need to provide long vacations, homes, cars, insurance to all govenrment employees, especially the cops for all their service to our country.
Why is it that, when people make fake claims about being crime victims, they always pinpoint blacks or Hispanics as the perpetrators? Like, who would believe that?
Apparently Don Quixote never will. Maybe the next “fabricator” could describe brown-skinned fellows wearing pegged pants, long suit jackets. and wide brimmed hats? If that transpired would Don Quixote again claim unfair racial profiling against “Flashback 50s Zoot-Suiters”? Probably so, yes I’d have to say certainly so. But I kid the Don.
“I’d heard tales about him for years, in and around the Pico-Aliso housing projects of Boyle Heights where he used to work the gang detail. None of the tales were good. There were even a few accusations of planted evidence, one of them pretty credible.”
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I wonder if any tales about young kids being used to commit crimes for older gang members were ever found credible? I wonder if any tales about drug dealing, shootings and murders by the same reliable gang members were ever found to be credible?
If you are going to mention someone in your blog and try to use their story for political expression, it would be nice if you spelled their name correctly or cited credible, quotable sources in references to their past. His last name is spelled RAZO and if you are going to mention his past, also mention that he spent years trying to keep kids out of gangs. The man made real mistakes. Terrible mistakes for which he and his family and friends will pay dearly. But he also tried to help many downtrodden members of his community.
Idiot.
Dear Observer,
Thank you for pointing out my genuinely appalling misspelling of Anthony Razo’s name. Worse, I know how to spell it. I don’t know how I managed to make such a mistake, then keep repeating it. Fatigue. The lateness of the night. I’m frankly embarrassed. In any case, it is corrected now, with a note.
As for your other issue: you have a point about the fact that I cited no names as sources—although I assure you my sources are solid and credible. But as I could not name them, you have no way of knowing that. I understand.
Because of this, I debated long and hard about doing the post at all and am still not sure I made the right decision.
The alternative was not to do it, and I did not feel comfortable with that either, given what I knew.
What the post needed was a several full days of field reporting—reinterviewing people who have told me of specific incidents in the past, and interviewing the various new people who were referred to me. Unfortunately, due to other pressing deadlines, those were days I didn’t have. So instead, when the plea deal was announced, I relied on a few quick phone calls and wrote the short, slightly ambiguous post you read—knowing it might easily open me to criticism.
I believe you when you tell me that Anthony Razo did much good. Most people are complex. Most people are also much better than the worst things they ever do. I talked to officers at Hollenbeck who were stunned at the recent revelations. The fact that so many officers donated money for his hospital bills suggests Razo was liked by many.
Yet many residents in the communities he policed were not at all surprised by the charges when news of them broke because, in their experience, Anthony Razo had another side to his behavior and his policing. You will have to take my word for it when I tell you that, in addition to the good he may have done, he also did damage. I don’t suspect this, I know it.
I dated his nephew Brian Razo before Anthony became a cop and now his newphew is a cop. I hope this does not put presure from others cops, although I would not dought it. Anyways it was a terrible thing, let God be the judge. I still think that he deserves what ever he gets, every one good or bad will be rewarded or pay their prize.
the shooting was true dont even talk cause you dont even know antything make sure that thats true before you put it out. im a close friend of the family i know
you know what you dont even know the true story so shutup ok i do
i am razo