INSIDE INGLEWOOD-Questions remain about Inglewood's mayor, James T. Butts, being at the scene of the highly publicized hostage situation in Inglewood on November 27.
The incident, which started out as an alleged kidnapping and domestic situation, escalated quickly when several a shots were fired from inside the house at 10709 S. 5th Avenue in Inglewood.
A related story was posted on CityWatch on December 3 titled, "5th Avenue Shootout: Missing Inglewood Mayor and Chief Has Nervous Citizens Asking Questions."
He made no statements to the media, was not seen in any pictures throughout the nearly 10-hour ordeal, and was seen by no one on the scene.
The only statement he made was to a blog by a single Inglewood resident who in the past has claimed to live in Compton. According to a blog post dated November 27, "2UrbanGirls has reached City of Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr., by phone, and he has provided the following statement on today’s officer involved shooting."
In the blog post, the mayor was quoted as saying, "I [Mayor Butts] and the City Council are thankful that the wounded officer is expected to fully recover. I have visited both responding officers at the [Centinela] hospital and although sedated both are in good spirits. I am hopeful that the suspect will surrender without further incident."
Throughout the day, Inglewood police (IPD) Lt. Oscar Serrano offered comments to news media. He was flanked by the police adjutant to IPD Chief Fronterotta, Lt. Jacqueline Layne.
IPD Chief Mark Fronterotta was not present at the incident.
As the day wore on and the hostage situation remained unresolved, L.A. County Sheriff's Lt. Dave Dolson took the podium to issue statements to the media present at the Crenshaw/108th intersection, four blocks from the incident. Those comments are archived on-line via various TV broadcast and newspaper Web sites.
Reached for comment via telephone, Lt. Dolson said, "IPD asked LASD to take command of the incident early on. We collaborated with [IPD] to resolve the tactical problem of the barricaded suspect and we were asked to investigate the criminal case as well as to investigate the officer being shot."
Lt. Dolson also said, "I had no contact with the Inglewood mayor, James T. Butts, during the incident. It was a purely a police matter."
The mayor has continued to insist that he was at the scene despite the absence of evidence.
At the December 3 city council meeting, Butts implied he was involved with decision-making at the incident. "I was allowed into the command post area."
The mayor has repeatedly claimed he was at the event "within minutes." He has stated so at the December 3 city council meeting as well as was quoted by Inglewood Today (IT): "I was actually on the scene in 20 minutes…".
IT is owned by Willie Brown. According to California financial disclosure forms 460 and 497 filed by Butts, Brown is a paid political consultant to Butts. According to files available at the Inglewood city clerk's office, IT and Brown receive significant funding from the city and the city's partners such as the Forum, Centinela Hospital and Republic Services. (The latter is the city's contracted trash hauler, one that within months of acquiring its contract, hired, Butts brother, Michael, to an executive position.)
(Randall Fleming is a veteran journalist and magazine publisher. He has worked at and for the New York Post, the Brooklyn Spectator and the Los Feliz Ledger. He is currently editor-in-chief at the Morningside Park Chronicle, a monthly newspaper based in Inglewood, CA and on-line at www.MorningsideParkChronicle.com. Views expressed and/or conclusions reached by Mr. Fleming are his and do not necessarily reflect those of CityWatch.) Photo credit: Randall Fleming.
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 102
Pub: Dec 20, 2013