Once Upon A Time in Compton

by Brennan, Tim; Ladd, Robert; Files, Lolita

  ***

  Tim kept putting in requests to go back to Compton to no avail. He lucked out on the partnership side, though. When he was put with Brandt House, the two hit it off immediately. Brandt was old school. He cared about being good at what he did. He had an excellent work ethic and was the type to never take credit for the hard work he put in, choosing instead to let his other partners get the shine. He respected other detectives and never wanted to step on anyone’s investigations. Tim saw the tremendous potential in Brandt and was determined to make sure Brandt saw it as well.

  When activity was low at the Industry station during the cold and rainy winter months, Tim and Brandt still managed to find work. If they arrested people who were looking to catch a break on their cases, Tim and Brandt talked to them about murders. As a result, they solved several murder cases. Along the way, Brandt began to realize his potential.

  One of the cases Tim and Brandt solved had been assigned to Phil Guzman and Joe Purcell. Tim and Bob had worked cases with them in the past, and they had confidence in Tim's ability to interview witnesses and suspects because of two high-profile murder cases they assisted Joe with in the nineties.

  One involved the murder of a security guard at a McDonald’s in Compton who was about to start the Sheriff’s academy. The other murder, also in Compton, involved a young mother and her one-year-old baby, both killed by the same bullet. The mother and child murder happened in the Segundo gang area on Frailey Street. Compton CV70 gang members had driven to Frailey armed with AK-47s. They got out and shot at some of the Segundo gang members, spraying the street with high caliber rounds. They missed the suspects, but a single AK-47 round went through a house and struck a mother who was holding her baby.

  This was a heinous case back in the day, even for Compton, and it got a tremendous amount of press. Tim and Bob’s informants gave them the names of the gang members involved, and they had passed the intel on to Purcell and the L.A.S.D.

  Tim and Bob’s former gang unit associates, Eddie Aguirre and Ray Richardson had arrested a woman who was the girlfriend of one of the suspects. When she was caught with a gun in her car, she gave up information about the murder. She was put on videotape where she sang like a bird and was then turned over to the L.A.S.D. She ended up becoming the most important witness against the suspects, who were eventually arrested and convicted in what became a death penalty case.

  With this history, Purcell asked Tim and Brandt to bring in a witness who'd been with a suspect in Walnut who killed a man. Tim and Brandt established a rapport with the witness over a cigarette. By the time Guzman and Purcell arrived, the witness was already opening up and telling Tim and Brandt about the murder. When Guzman and Purcell took over interviewing her, something went wrong. The witness shut down and didn’t want to talk to them.

  “She likes you,” Purcell said to Tim and Brandt. “Can you see if you can get her to talk?”

  The witness had already told Tim and Brandt the murderer’s name. They retrieved a photo, went back in, had another cigarette and she identified the killer.

  Homicide detectives thanked Tim and Brandt, and the two men proceeded to tape and write up the interview. Some of the O.S.S. detectives saw the report and complained about why a couple of G.E.T. deputies had been allowed to interview homicide suspects.

  This was the second time O.S.S. officers had complained in the few months that Tim had been assigned at Industry. When he first arrived, he and Brandt arrested a man for drugs who ended up naming all the suspects involved in a conspiracy murder. They put him on video detailing everyone’s involvement. The O.S.S. detectives were immediately bothered. They didn’t want Tim and Brandt working on murders.

  Tim’s lieutenant came right out and asked Tim why he and Brandt were working these cases. It didn’t matter that the two cases they worked were both solved with suspects in custody. Tim had an answer ready. “Those were gang crimes,” he said. “I’m a gang cop.”

  ***

  Tim worked with Brandt for two years, then Brandt was promoted to O.S.S. and went to Lakewood Station. He and Tim stayed in touch. Brandt told him about a good G.E.T. deputy at Lakewood Station named Jerry Ortiz. He was hardworking, but he was also outspoken. Jerry’s partners didn’t want to work with him because he called them out for being lazy. He sounded like someone Tim could work with.

  Lakewood Station handled the cities of Hawaiian Gardens, Artesia, Bellflower, and Paramount, which bordered Compton. Tim’s last two requests to be transferred back to Compton were denied, so he transferred to Lakewood Station and partnered with Jerry Ortiz.

  Both men were apprehensive of each other at first. Each had dominant personalities and wanted to be the one running the show. By degrees, they accepted each other, bonding over chasing gangsters. Jerry loved working for the L.A.S.D, but had been screwed over several times for being so outspoken. He liked to box, was full of energy, and loved doing real police work.

  The two men ended up having a great time working together. Sometimes they’d creep over to North Long Beach or Compton and Jerry was awed by how many gang members knew Tim. When he heard about how rapper DJ Quik had made a song about him, he was even more wowed.

  Jerry had trained at Century Station, one of the most dangerous areas in Los Angeles. Deputies were proud to work there. Jerry considered it the ultimate show of street respect if gangsters put up graffiti and/or wrote a song about a cop. It meant that cop was doing a good job.

  During the first two-thirds of the year they worked together, Jerry had a hard time. He was going through personal issues regarding ex-wives, and was upset about not being picked to go to O.S.S. He was a talker and, in short order, Tim knew almost everything going on in his life. He was like an excited kid when he talked. He discussed everything, but what he enjoyed talking about most was his young sons and all their accomplishments in school and sports. He also talked about Chela, the beautiful woman he intended to marry.

  At one point, a lot of the anger Jerry felt began to turn to peace. He began having some of the best times of his life. His kids were doing well, he was having long talks with his priest, and expressed to Tim that he was feeling very good about things overall. He was looking forward to marrying Chela in a few months. His happiness showed, especially when he was with his family.

  A few months later, Jerry would be told that he would be going to O.S.S. and Tim would be going back to Compton.

  ***

  On the weekend of June 5th in 2005, Tim and Bob were in the desert riding motorcycles with friends. On their way back, Tim noticed that he had missed several calls from Joanna, O.S.S. headquarters, and Jerry. When he finally made it home, there was breaking news on televisions regarding a deputy involved shooting in Compton.

  Compton had already been in the news based on an alarmingly-high amount of gang-related shootings that had the city on track to become, once more, one of the most dangerous places in America. (Compton would finish the year with seventy-five murders, most of which were gang-related.)

  This incident, that brought out new teams in full force, was the incident that would finally bring Tim back to Compton. It had nothing to do with the high murder rate in the city. It was a drunk driving incident.

  Deputies had responded to a domestic dispute in southeast Compton. The suspect, who’d been drinking, led them on a low-speed pursuit. When the guy finally stopped, he was surrounded by nearly twenty deputies on foot. When his truck began to slowly move forward, several deputies opened fire, striking the truck, the suspect, a deputy, and several houses. The shooting, dubbed by the media as the “Circle Shootout,” was tactically absurd, a case of “contagious fire” (where officers shoot because other officers were shooting) that alarmed the residents. One-hundred and twenty shots were fired. It was a miracle no one was killed.

  Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson came to town, charged up over what appeared to be the deputies’ perceived disregard for the safety of the residents, most of whom were minorities. O.S.S. lieutenant Rifkin lef
t a message on Tim’s phone. Tim was being transferred to the Compton G.E.T. effective the following Monday. This was clearly a ploy to appease the mayor, Eric Perrodin, who, in the past, had requested Tim’s return to Compton for help with all the gang murders, but had been ignored.

  Jerry called Tim’s house several times over the weekend. He wanted to be the first to tell Tim he was finally going back to Compton. Jerry spoke to Joanna for over an hour. They talked about how great his life was going and how he was happy Tim was going to get what he wanted. Joanna felt like she’d known him for years.

  Tim went back to Compton and was partnered with Rob Poindexter, but he and Jerry still met for lunch on the Compton border almost every day. Tim and Joanna attended Jerry’s wedding to Chela.

  Three weeks later, Jerry was dead.

  ***

  On June 24th, Jerry had called Tim to meet for lunch in Paramount. It was a couple of hours before lunchtime. Tim and Rob were patrolling the streets of Compton.

  Tim was driving when a call came over the radio for all O.S.S. and G.E.T. deputies to respond to Hawaiian Gardens. A deputy had been shot and was down.

  Tim and Rob had both worked that area. They knew all the O.S.S. and G.E.T. people and were wondering who had been shot. They raced over 100 mph to get there. The radio traffic was chaotic. The suspects were reported to be Hawaiian Gardens gang members, believed to be within a wide containment. The deputy who’d been shot was at 223rd and Norwalk Blvd.

  Tim and Rob arrived within minutes. Sheriff’s cars were everywhere. Tim saw Deputy Marc Lucio, a Lakewood G.E.T. deputy and friend. Before Tim could ask what happened, Lucio spoke.

  “It’s Jerry. He’s been shot in the head.”

  Tim was in shock. So were Rob and Marc.

  “Where is he?”

  “They took him to Hawaiian Gardens hospital.”

  Tim and Rob raced there. En route, they saw an ambulance and sheriff’s helicopters in a field. Tim and Rob ran to the ambulance.

  Jerry was being worked on and because of that, they were having difficulty getting him out of the ambulance. Tim and Rob grabbed the gurney and pushed him across the field toward the helicopter, pleading with him along the way to hold on. They loaded him onto the helicopter.

  “Hurry!” Tim said. He gripped Jerry’s hand. “Stay with us.”

  The helicopter headed for the trauma center at Harbor General Hospital. Tim had seen this kind of thing many times. He knew how they usually turned out, but he hoped, this time, things would be different.

  He didn’t remember much about the 100 mph drive to the hospital. All he could think about was that he had just gone to Jerry’s wedding. In the last few months, Jerry had been happy, centered, at peace.

  When they arrived at the hospital, Tim saw Jerry for the last time before they turned off the machine. The hospital staff had waited for his family to be flown in before taking him off life support.

  Tim and Rob walked outside, as dazed as the endless sea of Jerry’s family members and Sheriff's Department brass who had arrived. Tim expressed his condolences to Jerry’s mom, dad, brothers, sisters, children, and Chela, his new wife of just three weeks.

  ***

  Details about what happened began to make their way through the crowd of police officers. Jerry had been working alone; his new partner was away on vacation. (Tim knew several deputies thought he was still Jerry’s partner and were wondering why he hadn’t been there to protect him.)

  Jerry had gone looking for an attempted murder suspect and found him. He chased the man to an apartment and knocked on the door. A woman Jerry knew answered and they began talking. The murder suspect, who was hiding inside, shot Jerry through the crack in the door. Jerry never saw it coming.

  He dropped to the ground as the suspect ran to a nearby house and holed up. Responding deputies pulled Jerry from the line of fire and took him to the hospital. The entire neighborhood was cordoned off as a massive search ensued.

  ***

  Tim sat at the hospital for a long while, reflecting on things. No matter what, Jerry would always chase the bad guy without regard to his safety. That was his personality. Nothing could have stopped him. It was the kind of fearlessness that defined heroes.

  To Tim, Jerry was definitely a hero. Undeniably so.

  ***

  After a while, Tim returned to Hawaiian Gardens to aid in catching the man who killed his partner.

  The City of Hawaiian Gardens was a lower-middle-class community that was a tiny one square mile in size. Within that one square mile were an astounding six-hundred documented gang members, most of whom were Latino. They mostly trafficked in drug sales, robberies, rape, burglaries, grand theft auto, and weapons possessions. The gang was known for being violent toward any Blacks who lived or happened to wander into their territory, and was heavily tied to the Mexican Mafia, aka La eMe (“The M”).

  After the riots in 1992, the Mexican Mafia had given the order to all those affiliated with them to take control of their neighborhoods, tax drug dealers, and to push Blacks out of power.

  The Hawaiian Gardens community as a whole and all of local law enforcement were shocked and saddened by the senseless murder of Jerry Ortiz, who was popular and well-liked. O.S.S. Captain Mike Ford promised deputies that the Hawaiian Gardens gang would be dismantled. The task force that came out of this turned into a local and federal wiretap case that lasted four years. The O.S.S. detectives worked tirelessly with very little time off. Assistant D.A. Deanne Castorena filed a gang injunction against numerous gang members. The hard work of so many people ultimately culminated in the biggest takedown of Mexican Mafia members in history. Including drugs and gun seizures, over one hundred people were indicted in a case that was driven by the memory of Jerry Ortiz.

  Tim Brennan and Jerry Ortiz at Jerry’s wedding.

  ***

  Tim finished out 2005 working in Compton with Rob on the G.E.T. team, which was led by Sergeant Jim Tatreau. The team was putting up incredible numbers for gun arrests and guns taken off the street.

  The team was made up of Tim and Rob, Chris Fernandez, Rob Risiglione, Eric Gomez, John Clark, Dave Mertens, Paul Merino, and Russell Helbing. During this period, several members were shot at or were involved in deputy shooting incidents with armed suspects.

  News outlets wanted to see Compton. Tim and Rob took reporters from Current TV, USA Today, The Washington Post, and an Australian publication for ride-alongs in Compton. They all got to see some action. Most of the reporters had contacted Tim through “Compton Police Gangs,” the website he and Bob had created. They wanted to ride with Tim and hear about the Compton of lore and about gangster rappers.

  This was all happening during what turned out to be a very violent year; one that reminded Tim of the days back when there were gang wars in Compton.

  The G.E.T. team was great, bonding over all the adrenaline and later, after work, over beers. For Tim and Bob, this felt like what they’d been used to. Real police work.

  A far cry from checking butts at the courthouse.

  21

  THE BIGGIE SMALLS TASK FORCE

  Over the course of his time on the Compton Homicide Task Force, L.A.P.D. Robbery and Homicide Detective Brian Tyndall had reached out to Tim on several occasions. Brian had recently been charged with putting together a task force investigating the murder of slain hip-hop star Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls and disentangling the mess the case had become because of all the theories being thrown around. There was hope that the case would finally be solved.

  This task force was formed in response to the late rapper’s mother, Voletta Wallace's wrongful death lawsuit against the L.A.P.D. and the City of Los Angeles. She alleged that crooked L.A.P.D. officers had played a role in Wallace’s murder and that the L.A.P.D. was involved in the cover-up. Much of her allegations were based upon accounts in Randall Sullivan's book, LAbyrinth.

  The book generated a great deal of publicity among those who loved conspiracy theories and the pre
ss continuously reported on these Tupac and Biggie conspiracies, keeping them in public conversation, never delving deeper to talk with detectives who knew the actual players who’d been tied to the murders and quite possibly could have solved these cases.

  Detective Brian Tyndall’s visits with Tim for information came around the same time Tim was served with a subpoena from the Wallace family attorneys to appear as an expert on Compton gangs.

  Tim was asked to join this new investigative team that also included homicide investigators William Holcomb, Debra Winters, Greg Kading, Shands McCoy, and Daryn Dupree.

  The L.A.P.D. Robbery/Homicide division was well-known and nationally respected for having some of the best detectives in the country. Some of the people Tim would be working with had participated in high-profile murder cases including O.J. Simpson, Robert Blake, Biggie, and had been a part of the investigation into the Rampart scandal involving officer Rafael Pérez.[45]

  Brian had written a letter to then-sheriff Lee Baca requesting that Tim be assigned on loan to the task force based on his extensive knowledge of the Tupac and Biggie murder cases and Compton gangs.

  The task force was assembled in 2006 with Brian and Bill Holcomb as the lead detectives. Tim liked and respected both men, but they were each retiring soon and weren’t long for the task force. In their places, detectives Debra Winters and Greg Kading would assume the roles of lead investigators. Winters didn’t always seem effective when it came to talking to people, and Kading’s experience lie mainly in drug cases, not homicides. Shands McCoy and Daryn Dupree were younger and each were very well-versed on L.A.’s hip-hop scene.

  McCoy and Dupree were very enthusiastic being a part of the task force and diving into the investigation and each had a lot of good ideas. They didn’t want to appear to step out of line with those ideas, though, or rock the boat, so that meant following Winters’ or Kading’s lead.