Officials both from the City of Redondo Beach and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office have confirmed that investigators served a search warrant at the Redondo Beach Fire Department’s Station No. 1 on Tuesday, March 28. According to City Manager Joe Hoefgen, the City was not informed of the search ahead of time.
The basis of the investigation, Hoefgen said, was based on materials brought to the Redondo Beach Police Department in November by a city employee. After review by RBPD, the materials were then quickly advanced to the District Attorney’s office.
“We don’t investigate our own; there could be an inherent conflict of interest when stuff like that comes our way,” RBPD Chief Keith Kauffman said.
Neither Hoefgen nor Kauffman would elaborate as to the nature of the materials provided to the city. Representatives from the District Attorney’s office confirmed that a warrant was indeed served to Fire Station 1, but would not comment further.
However, high-level officials within City Hall indicated that Brad Sweatt, the president of the Redondo Beach Firefighter’s Association, is a person of interest in the investigation.
When reached, Sweatt responded that he’s been “advised to remain quiet,” followed by “no comment.” Further questions were met with no response.
The last three months have been difficult for Sweatt. He recently came under fire in the run-up to the March 7 election, when then-mayoral candidate Bill Brand accused the Firefighter’s Association Political Action Committee of “political money laundering.” A donation by Waterfront developer CenterCal to the PAC led to independent expenditures in favor of the PAC’s chosen political candidates and positions.
Noting that such contributions and expenditures are legal and, in fact, how PACs often operate, Sweatt demanded an apology from Brand. One day later, an anonymous blogger posted Sweatt’s tax liens on Facebook.
