An Irony of the Case
Ironically, this was the month that Mr. Vera was scheduled to complete an eighteen-month drug diversion program. The penalty stemmed from a notorious encounter with Culver City police — once his employer — on Saturday, Aug. 7, 2004, in the parking lot of Coco’s Restaurant, across Sepulveda Boulevard from Temple Akiba.
Th notoriety in the incident was only thinly related to Mr. Vera, who had been stopped for a five years’ late car registration. In that case, Mr. Vera’s father, Albert Vera Sr., a longtime civic official who was in his third term on the City Council, was accused of allegedly interfering with police while they were questioning his son. Mr. Vera Jr. was accused of misdemeanor drug possession. He went to court three months later when he was assigned to the aforementioned drug program.
Vera Lawyer Was Pleased
“This case was handled just as it should have been,” the lawyer for Mr. Vera Jr. said at the time. “He was treated like any other person similarly situated.”
Meantime, Police Officer Heidi Keyantash filed a civil suit last summer against Mr. Vera Sr. for reasons related to an alleged power play. Ms. Keyantash is believed to be seeking millions from the retired mayor. As recently as last week, Ms. Keyantash’s attorney, Terry Goldberg, talked of a plan to bring this case into a courtroom in early July, eleven months after the lawsuit was filed against Mr. Vera Sr. and the city of Culver City.
At the holiday juncture, legal observers were not clear if or how the latest police encounter by Mr. Vera Jr. would affect his father’s case.
A ‘Curious Array’
Police sources told thefrontpageonline.com on Monday that when Redondo police came upon Mr. Vera last Friday that he had a “curious array” in his possession. They said he had a deputy sheriff’s badge, a police radio allegedly from the Culver City Police Dept., a flashlight (presumably for illuminating small patches of the darkened construction site) and a loaded gun. It was learned that police suspect he may have been on drugs at the time, namely methamphetamine. Now that the holiday is over, it will be up to the District Attorney’s Office to determine whether further charges will be brought against the suspect, who is not stranger to the agency.
What could Mr. Vera allegedly have been doing around a construction site in the middle of the night? Police insiders theorized that burglary may have been his objective even though he comes from a family that is believed to be financially comfortable. “If drugs were involved, it could have been for a double thrill,” one officer said, “committing an act and the possibility of getting caught,” Tools, you see, are easy to sell. They don’t carry any traceable numbers.”
Postscript
For the forty-one-year-old former Culver City reserve officer, this was at least his third known brush with police, increasing the likelihood of doing time if he is found guilty.
In contrast to Mr. Vera’s last known encounter with police, which was hidden for weeks from City Hall, official Culver City was informed of Junior Vera’s Friday arrest in a timely fashion, within hours after it happened.
