Over My Head Just trying to help my Father-In-Law

One thing that I do in Los Angeles is manage some industrial property that my father in law has. It is 39,000 square feet, has a one story office building, two warehouses, one two story and another galvanized single story. There are also two large garages, he handicapped parking sticker and the Cop directed me to the closest spot. He asked me what my business was. I told him Ray Allen, he called, asked my name and his eyes lit up. Buck Buchanan? You arent the guy that did those oldies shows arent you? From there it was a cake walk the third floor, Robbery - Homicide.

I walked into a large office that made me feel like I had entered a Joe Wambaugh novel. The building might have been constructed in that late 1960s, but its age made me feel young. Every desk, filing cabinet telephone and coffee machine had the age of late night investigations. You could feel the frustrations of the cops, all sitting on the phone, graying hair, badges present, knowing that it was another dead end lead. Fuck was the prevalent word. A forty year old lady detective asked me my business. I told her that I had been called by Ray Allen. She said that he would be right with me. She escorted me to a desk, which had seen its better days in the late 50s. It was strewn with papers and having a rubber facing, notes from days gone by were still etched in history.

Enter Ray Allen. Allen sounded like he might have been 15 years my junior, but looking at his persona, you knew that you were dealing with a veteran cop. He was about six one, in good shape, just going gray, a little recession to the hair line and wearing levis, chambray shirt and Nikes. He settled down, shook my hand and said; I have followed you from KRLA with the Emperor to KRTH. Tell me, what happened at KRLA? I got through that and we got down to business.

Enter Jesse Corral, looking like he might have been Victors cousin, or older brother. This was Rays partner. We talked about the incident. Ray said that he wished that someone that took my original call had alerted him and his partner. He said that the uniforms blew the bust. He asked me how many units rolled on the call. I told him. He said it sounded like a John Wayne movie. He said that if they had the call, they would have snuck down to the plant, gotten inside the office, never letting Jose know they were even there.

A Joseph Wambaugh Novel Unfolds

As you remember from my letter, as I was leaving the location, there was an 18 wheeler that rolled down Porter Street without lights. It turned out that this truck was stolen and Ray and Jessie felt that was the truck that was there to pick up the stolen merchandise. The massive police presence blew that wide open. The only thing that happened with that truck was that the driver and another guy were arrested when they made no move toward the plant. Two guys apprehended, with one old stolen truck and trailer, versus three quarters of a million dollars of stolen copier equipment. God bless the Calvary.

Ray and Jesse brought out the mug book. They had about 200 mug shots of every bad looking Mexican hood in a three state area. There was one picture that stood out. It was about 25 into the procedure. I came across the same picture toward the end of the routine. This time, the guy looked older, but it was the same guy. They asked me what the guys name was. I said I knew him as Nacho. Nacho had sublet a portion of the plant with Jim Alcantera. He stored oranges in one of the garages, along with a brand new fork lift. I told Ray and Jesse that I had evicted him, after I failed to get money from Alcantera.

Ray and Jesse asked me about a fat, older Mexican, who had a picture three down from Nacho. They said that was Nacho, the true money man, but the guy I identified was also know as Nacho, but was a secondary player. I asked them if they thought Nacho had done the crime. They didnt know.

You will remember that I told you about the old man Jose. I found out some interesting things about him. He has three priors for setting up things just like this, but not nearly as large a scale as we were dealing with. The cops told me that Jose wouldnt give up who had stored the good at the plant. An interesting scenario unfolded. The cops came down and took the copier equipment. The perpetrators will be coming down to the plant asking Where in the fuck is our stuff? Jose has to say that the police department took it. The perpetrators are going to start thinking that Jose might have given them up. Jose could very well get killed when that comes down.

Ray and Jesse let me know that Jose had received $2000.00 for allowing them to dump the stuff. I asked if the cops had confiscated the money. They said no. Now, I am going to ask Jose for all his back rent and future rent. Hell, he has $2000.00.

Enter a real problem. Jose is dirty, but scared shitless with the things that are going down. He cant give up the perpetrators, as he will get dead, real quick. He has no idea what to tell the bad guys. Do I kick out Jose? Do I take Joses $2000.00, letting him stay? Is he afraid enough to never get involved in this shit again? One thing with Ray Allen, it seems that they feel that Nacho plays a big part of the cast of characters. They feel that he might be a major player. Time will tell, probably in the next day or so.

Bad Boys Bad Boys

The story is continuing to unfold at 2441 Porter Street. I was cant, except for the old black man, I am letting myself open to the same incident and possibly having vandals or having the place torched coming into play. All in all, it is a situation that is still being played out, in a big way.

Tomorrow, my Jose, the guy doing the garage doors is going back to the location. I will go back there tomorrow and talk with Jose (old man) and get some things straight.

BTW, I went to the plant to talk with Jose today, right after the meeting with Ray and Jesse. He wasnt there. The old black man said that he said that he would be right back. I went up to my Japanese restaurant and got my weekly does of raw fish. I returned to the plant about an hour later, but Jose was not to be found. You see, I cant get into the plant, as I gave the police department my keys.

Another twist, my father in law gave Jose a full set of keys to the plant, so that was the way that he could open the warehouse. Now, I have to get the keys, except for the gate and the bathroom from Jose. It never ends.

My father in law is 71 and freaked out about this. He wants to jump in his car and drive our here from Sedona. He has a real bad back and driving extended distances puts him in bed, wracked with pain. I keep telling him that there is not anything that each with the capability of holding a large lorry. It is in an industrial base. Things went well for the plant until about two years ago. The state of California has seen an erosion of heavy industrial use in the past five years, due to a very one sided tax structure. This was also the case in Los Angeles. Our city government literally forced the heavy industrial base to some of the outlying cities. This means that the plant, which had been generating $7000.00 per month was down to zero. I found a Mexican man that wanted to rent the place and run a wholesale produce from there. He offered $3500.00 per month. Since the place was vacant, I said yes. Things worked out well for about five months. I used to collect the rent the fifth of every month. It was all in cash, so no problem. Then, one cloudy afternoon, Jose was not to be found. Evidently the Public Health department found that Jose was running a retail outlet from there. The warehouse, since it was galvanized was not rodent safe, so they closed his business. In between all of this, Jose sublet a portion of the plant to a Jim Alcantara. He was an egg wholesaler. He had the other warehouse, usually filled with hundreds of dozens of eggs. He also was using the office building. I didnt mind, as long as the rent was being paid. I talked to Alcantara and he said that Jose had left in the night, back to Mexico. Alcantara agreed to stay at the place, but he would only pay $2500.00 rent, as he was not using the other warehouse. This went on for a couple of months. He always paid in cash. One month, he gave me a check, but thinking that I had never had a problem with him, I accepted the check. That was the beginning of the end. The check was sent back because of insufficient funds. I finally told Alcantara that I was going to evict him. He said fine and left. What he didnt take was eight bob tail Lorries, which were all parked on the property. One thing that he did take was every stick of furniture from the office. We tracked him down, told him that if the Lorries were not removed by Friday of that week, we would have them towed to a salvage yard. We also said that if our furniture was not returned, we would have his ass arrested. We got the furniture back and the trucks moved.

Alcantara had sublet one of the smaller garages out to an old 72 year old Mexican man. He had a couple of sewing machines and did auto upholstery. I decided that he could stay, pay me $200.00 per month. He asked if he might stay in a spare room, over the warehouse. I thought that might be a smart move, since having someone there would keep the vandals away.

We also had a 78 year old black man that lived in a truck camper (like a trailer on a truck bed). The old man had seven dogs, all friendly, but a night proved to be good watch dogs.

As we continued to search for tenants, I hired our house keepers husband to reframe the six galvanized garage doors and take care of some other odds and ends. I wanted the property to look as good as it could.

I have been going down there about every other day to see how the work if progressing. We had all the locks changed, as we didnt want Alcantara to come into the property, stealing us blind, as he never gave us the keys. I thought I would check and see of the keys worked on the various doors. I came up to the galvanized warehouse and opened the door. Much to my amazement, there were crates of Saven Copier boxes everywhere. These boxes were brand new, like right out of the company warehouse. There were hundreds of boxes, from small to very large. There were fax machines, by the hundreds, small copiers, medium copiers and very large boxes with copiers that a large corporation would use. Something was very wrong in River City!!

I called Jose over and asked him what the hell this was. He said that a man he knew had come by and asked him if he could store the merchandise there, as his lorry had broken down. Jose said yes and the man would be back in a few days for the merchandise. I played it close to the vest.

I immediately called the Los Angeles Police Department. The Robbery/Homicide Unit, out of Parker Center was very interested in the story. These are the same guys that are in charge of the OJ Simpson investigation.

It was agreed that I would meet the police at midnight, at the plant. Now, the neighborhood has really gone down hill. It is not a place to be after dark. You can see the graffiti on the walls of all unattended buildings, which there are many. As I pulled off the Motorway, I was met by eight police units. There were four marked cars and four undercover cars. We were about a block away from the plant. The sergeant told me that I would be in the middle of the pack; we would transverse down Porter Street to the location. Upon reaching it, there was a diesel lorry parked next to the plant, with a 45 foot trailer. The police thought that it might be the gang, waiting to pick up the merchandise. We proceeded down Porter Street. Upon reaching the plant, these police units pulled up on the lorry, cops jumping out of cars, spot lights on the lorry, guns drawn. They had seven Mexicans against the trailer, hands up, guns pointed at them. The trailer was searched, but then it was discovered that they were only there waiting for a morning pickup of produce from that location.

A Scary Night in Downtown Los Angeles with the Coppers

As I walked up to the gate of the plant, I was greeted by the old black mans dogs. As I yelled at them to shut up, they recognized me and shut up. We went into the warehouse and the merchandise was still there. These veteran coppers all whistled and cajoled with Sweet Jesus, Holy Fuck; look at that!!

About an hour later, all the uniforms left, but the replacements arrived. The special tactical team arrived. They were all in military garb, carrying assault weapons. They were going to stake the place out from the darkened office, which is right across the lot from the warehouse. During all of this, the old black man never woke up. The old Mexican, Jose was questioned and told to go back to his room and keep the light out. I was told to go home.

This morning I was called by the head investigator. Ray Allen told me that they had found out where to copier equipment was stolen from. It was from the Saven warehouse. The value was three quarters of a million dollars. That is $750,000.00 they thought that they had stumbled across a very large Mexican Mafia theft ring. Ray Allen, the head investigator told me that something interesting had happened shortly after I left.

While I was going down the darkened Porter Street, I noticed darkened truck, with a 45 foot trailer going toward the plant. I thought it was kind of strange seeing the lorry that late, without lights. Ill bet they are there to pick up the merchandise. I didnt think much of it, as it was too damned late. Well, the investigator brought my suspicions to rest. That lorry was indeed stolen and was parked outside the plant. The police had not arrested the driver and helper, as they were waiting for the driver to make a move. They suspected that he was going to, either dump additional stolen property, or pick up what was there. This was 11:00 am, but nothing had happened. I still dont know how this has played out.

The police arrested the 72 year old Jose. They have found that he has done this kind of thing before. As a matter of fact, he has been arrested, done three stretches in prison of the same thing. They think that he is working for the group. The only thing the old man wont do is give up who is in change of the operation. I am sure that they will get the information. With $750,000.00 worth of stolen property, that felony will put the old man into to prison for the rest of his life.

One thing that I failed to mention is one other player in this scenario. His name is Nacho. He showed up at the plant after Alcantara had vacated the property. I arrived there and found crates of oranges in one of the galvanized garages, along with a brand new fork lift. I asked Jose about this guy, since he wasnt there, only his oranges and fork lift. Jose said that Nacho was giving him $200.00 per month to store the oranges. Well, since that was better than nothing, I said that he could stay for a month. I was a little puzzled by the fork lift. It was a Clark, brand new, with a price tag of about $50, 00.00. Not my business, not yet. 

Now that the police have Jose in custody, in talking that I have going for me is the cops. All I need to tell Jose is that the police have a full set of keys to the plant. That would dissuade him from every getting involved in anything illegal again.

Tom, I need to have someone at the plant. I was called this morning by Detective. Ray Allen, Robbery - Homicide, Parker Center, downtown, city of the Angles. I rolled into Parker Center, knowing that there was not any public parking, so I pulled out the handicapped pass and went in. What a mess.

The plant story is still unfolding. I am sure that the Mexican Mafia must have been involved as the amount of money involved is simply to large to be a small group of stupid thieves. Last week, Friday, I was told by our housekeeper that her husband needed to talk with me. She said that it involved the plant and the construction of the doors. Jose arrived that evening and told a tale of horror.

It seems that the other Jose (old man) had been pretty well beaten by three Mexicans, Thursday night. They wanted to know where the stolen merchandise was. He said he didnt know. They proceeded to beat on him. He finally told them that our Jose had gone over to the warehouse, saw the pallets of merchandise and proceeded to call me. It was then that the police were called. Jose said that the old man started crying and told him that he shouldnt come back, as they were waiting for him and would kill him. I told Jose that under no circumstance should he go back down there. It was then that I decided that it would be a very stupid thing for me to travel down there. I am sure that there are a bunch of Mexican banditos that are pretty well pissed off at me.

The old man did what he had to do. I understand why he did it. It might not have been right, but I do feel sorry for him. He may still very well lose his life over this. I am wondering if the banditos are wondering why the old man was not arrested. I am wondering if they are thinking that he gave those names. It is too soon to know. I suppose the only way that I would hear about the death, if it happens is from the police.

I am very serious about staying away from the location. Since I have been going down there on a daily basis, for almost three weeks, if someone was watching, then they know my automobile. I would hate to have anything go down that was out of my control.

I do feel that the police blew it. It was not the detectives from Robbery Homicide, but the uniforms from Newton Division. When they rolled on the scene, guns drawn, flashing blue lights and radios blaring, I am sure that anyone that might have been waiting in the area left immediately. As you remember, as I was leaving that night, there was a large 18 wheeled lorry that came down the road, without lights. That truck was stolen, but the only thing that the cops got was a stolen lorry and two people with it. If Robbery Homicide had been contacted from the inception, they would have had some undercover people in the office and would have waited out the situation. The uniforms should have never taken Jose into custody. Without him at the location, there was not anyone to let the culprits into the location. It just really went upside down with the uniforms. I dont know if these guys will ever be apprehended.

As far as getting money from Jose, he said that he didnt have it. I could have pressed the issue, but getting blood from a rock is more the case. He said that he needed to pay off some hospital bills, which he had incurred. Hell, he is 72 years old, probably wont see       75, so the heck with it.

I am out of This Hell Hole

I just turned over the keys to the plant to a large industrial real estate firm. They have informed us that rental property has started picking up. I think we should get it rented as soon as possible. If it is rented, then there is not any chance of having the same thing happening, unless it is rented to crooks. I havent called the police with the news about Jose, as I dont think they can do anything about it. If something else occurs, then they will be called. I wish I felt that they were really pursuing this situation aggressively, but it doesnt seem to be the case. Cops are pretty closed mouthed. Hell, I might even be a suspect. You never know what is really going on behind the scenes.