Sheriff's Report: Officers Attempted Hit-and-Run Cover-Up

At least four Manhattan Beach Police officers have been implicated in attempting to cover up a January hit-and-run accident, which one of the officers allegedly caused before fleeing the scene, according to a nearly three-month investigation by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department.

On the evening of January 31, a 2005 red Corvette owned by Manhattan Beach Police Officer Richard Hatten collided with one vehicle, which then hit another along Sepulveda Boulevard. According to a report, Hatten was driving and left the scene without providing any information to the occupants of the other vehicles, who were treated by paramedics for minor injuries.

Witnesses reported seeing two additional people, both off-duty Manhattan Beach officers, "squeezed into the passenger seat" of the Corvette, according to the report, which was prepared by Sgt. Joseph Jakl of the county's traffic services detail risk management bureau as part of an internal criminal investigation.

Hatten and the two unnamed officers who were his passengers had been drinking at Grunion's Sports Bar before the accident, Jakl said the owner of the bar told him. The bar owner identified one of the officers, whom he reportedly knows. The officers consumed "a couple of beers each" at his bar that night, the owner told Jakl. When they left, they told him they were headed to another bar to watch a game, he said.

Shortly after the accident occurred, Manhattan Beach Police Officer Jeff Goodrich arrived at the scene and began gathering information for a police report. A little later, one of the victims drove to a service station along Manhattan Beach Boulevard at Dianthus Street, where he noticed a damaged, parked Corvette that was empty and locked with its hazard lights flashing.

The victim returned to the site of the collision to report the sighting. By then, two more Manhattan Beach police had arrived on the scene—Officers Jennifer Ringler and Tony Presgraves. Ringler was helping Goodrich by getting information from one of the victims and taking measurements from the cars' areas of impact.

Ringler verified that the Corvette belonged to Officer Hatten—a six-year veteran of the department—and then she departed, Jakl said. Meanwhile, Officer Presgraves "advised Goodrich of what his responsibilities were and then he left the scene ultimately," according to Jakl. At that point, Goodrich allegedly canceled the initial traffic incident report number and instead provided an exchange-of-information form to the victims.

On February 11, Manhattan Beach Police Chief Rod Uyeda released a statement regarding the traffic incident and its aftermath. "After learning of the collision on the afternoon of Monday, February 1," he said, "I immediately had grave concerns about decisions that were made by police officers involved in the investigation of the collision." As a result, he said, four Manhattan Beach officers had been placed on paid administrative leave pending the county's findings.

On February 2, Sheriff's Deputy Tim Crise of Lawndale was asked to take a traffic collision report as a courtesy for Manhattan Beach Police. From there, the investigation was turned over to the traffic division of the County Sheriff's Office, which simultaneously launched a larger internal affairs investigation as well.

Jakl said that in the initial report, the three suspected officers claimed someone else was driving them in the Corvette from Grunion's when the accident occurred, then fled the scene after parking the car. They also reportedly claimed that a Grunion's employee gave this unidentified person the car keys on their behalf.

"The owner told me he was the one working the bar that night," Jakl said, "and that he had a specific recollection of what occurred and that no keys were given to anyone."

Uyeda was unavailable for comment on Friday. Manhattan Beach Police Lt. Tony Digenova said that the department did not yet wish to comment on the report.

"It's an open investigation at this time," he said. "The current comments will come from the Sheriff's Department, then I imagine from ours as well."

An operations assistant at the Sheriff Department's Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau (ICIB) also declined to comment, deferring to local police. The 
ICIB just wrapped up its own internal affairs investigation of the incident, of which Jakl's collision report was one component.

 Results from the larger investigation are now being passed along to the county's Justice System Integrity Division, a branch of the district attorney's office.

"Obviously a violation occurred," Jakl said. "And that's going to be up to the district attorney to determine what level of violation and if there's enough evidence to pursue those charges."

The Manhattan Beach Police Department will also receive a copy of the report. "I'm sure some of the officers of Manhattan Beach aren't going to be too happy with my findings," Jakl said. "I'm expecting that, but it is what it is. Law enforcement officers are held to a higher standard because we are the ones who are enforcing the laws."