The Bad Apples

This is the kind of thing we don't need from our law enforcement officers, thank god the majority of them are not like this.

***

SF Chronicle Story, by Henry K. Lee

03-03) 16:23 PST HAYWARD -- A West Contra Costa school district police officer and two security guards were arraigned today in the killing of a East Bay man who was shot dead in an argument over a parked car, authorities said.

Officer Joseph Jason Lee, 27, of San Lorenzo and security guards Mazzin "Mazz" Elhosseiny, 34, of Castro Valley and his cousin, Hussam "Sam" Elhosseiny, 25, also of San Lorenzo were charged in the Nov. 12 slaying of Martress Rogers, 23, in San Lorenzo.

Martress Rogers had been arguing with the suspects and at least four other people over Mazzin Elhosseiny's new Ford Excursion, which was double-parked outside the Ashland Gardens apartment complex at 16183 Ashland Ave., said Alameda County sheriff's Cmdr. Greg Ahern.

Lee -- who was not yet a school district police officer -- then broke a window on Rogers' red Chevrolet Corsica with his fist and Hussam Elhosseiny fired several shots from a semiautomatic handgun at the victim's car, Ahern said.

Hussam Elhosseiny has been charged with murder. Prosecutors charged Lee and Mazzin Elhosseiny with being accessories after the fact to murder. Clad in jail jumpsuits, they appeared before Superior Court Judge Alfred Delucchi this afternoon at the Hayward Hall of Justice.

Deputy District Attorney Annie Saadi said Hussam Elhosseiny had been making arrangements to leave the country, possibly to his native Egypt. The judge ordered Hussam Elhosseiny held without bail and set bail at $250,000 for Mazzin Elhosseiny and $25,000 for Lee.

All three are to return to court next week.

The judge's decision to grant bail to the two men prompted Rogers' brother, Marc Rogers, 23, to sputter in disgust and utter expletives outside the courtroom after having earlier said he was pleased with the arrests.

"I'm just happy they got them," he said before the arraignment.

Bullets hit Rogers in the arm and torso, and one of them destroyed his vital organs, Ahern said. Still, he managed to drive about two miles toward home before he staggered out of his car just outside his apartment building on Tropic Court in San Leandro.

Rogers died at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley. He left behind a pregnant fiancee, Lailani Lopez, and their two-year-old son, Marvin.

"I'm just really happy they found them," Lopez, who is due in July, said today. "I hope they get what they deserve."

Lopez, who had been with the victim for nine years, said she was "really shocked" to learn that Lee became a police officer after the killing.

Deloise Quarles, the victim's grandmother agreed, saying, " Could you believe it? What is society coming to? Everything went down the drain, for nothing. He was trying to go home, that's what he was trying to do. It's unfair, so unfair."

After the slaying, the suspects agreed to keep quiet about the incident, which occurred after a night of drinking together in San Francisco, authorities said.

"We believe they were all sworn to secrecy," Ahern said.

Investigators found a trail of blood at the crime scene that led to a nearby apartment building where Lee and Hussam Elhosseiny live, Ahern said. The blood is believed to be Lee's, authorities said. Authorities identified the suspects with help from at least one confidential source, Ahern said, adding that additional arrests may be forthcoming.

At the time of the killing, the three suspects worked for West Coast Security and Patrol Company, which Mazzin Elhosseiny owns. A man who answered a number listed for Mazzin Elhosseiny said Friday, "I have no comment, sir."

Lee received his security guard's license in 2001, Mazzin Elhosseiny in 1993 and Hussam Elhosseiny in 1999. All three had valid firearms permits, according to records with the state Bureau of Security and Investigative Services.

Lee left the firm in January when he joined the West Contra Costa Unified School District police force, which has 19 officers. The district terminated Lee's contract Wednesday, said Vince Kilmartin, associate superintendent of schools.

A second district police officer hired in January, Manuel Regalado, was placed on paid administrative leave Thursday pending further investigation, Kilmartin said. Sheriff's investigators want to question Regalado and several other men to see if they were a witness to, or involved in, the shooting.

Both Lee and Regalado passed the standard background checks required to become a police officer, Kilmartin said.

Word of Lee's arrest comes amid debate over whether the district should disband its police force and seek a contract with the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department to patrol its 60 campuses. But Kilmartin said he believed the slaying that involved the two officers was isolated.

"I don't believe that we will disband the force," he said. "I think this was just an unfortunate incident, and we will continue to provide the district police force throughout the community."