Prosecutors have launched an investigation of a West Covina city councilman who bought a cut-rate SUV, then voted in favor of a financial arrangement that benefited the dealer who sold it to him.
The car in question was one of several damaged in August 2003 when environmental radicals set fire to some SUVs and painted slogans such as "polluter" on others in the San Gabriel Valley.
Councilman Roger Hernandez put up less than $6,000 in cash, plus the trade-in of his old car, to buy one of the damaged SUVs, a charcoal gray 2004 Chevy Tahoe LS that could have sold for $35,000 undamaged.
District attorney investigators served a search warrant last week at West Covina City Hall, the auto dealership and Hernandez's home.
"I opened the [garage] door, and here were a bunch of men looking through my garage," said Hernandez, 30, who denies any wrongdoing.
Investigators, he said, showed him a copy of the search warrant affidavit, which stated they were "looking for a partnership with the dealership that was improper."
Prosecutors declined to comment on the case. But sources close to the investigation said officials were trying to determine whether Hernandez acted improperly by accepting the SUV at a discounted price while continuing to participate in city business involving the dealership.
The dealership, Clippinger Chevrolet, was one of several hit by vandals during a night of attacks on SUVs across the San Gabriel Valley that was later linked to the radical environmental group Earth Liberation Front.
Shortly after the attack, Hernandez was among a group of city leaders who toured Clippinger Chevrolet to assess the damage.
Hernandez said he talked with Ziad Alhassen, president of Clippinger's parent company, West Covina Motors, about the fate of the scorched cars. Some were "100% destroyed," Hernandez said, but others were only partially burned.
"I asked him what they were going to do with these partially burned vehicles," Hernandez said. "He said that after being processed for insurance, they would be refurbished and sold at discount."
Hernandez said he told Alhassen that he was interested in purchasing one of the damaged vehicles.
Shortly afterward, Hernandez picked out a charcoal gray 2004 Chevy Tahoe LS.
"It had a stench. The vehicle always had a stench," the councilman said.
The most obvious damage was to paint on the upper left side of the roof that had a sandpaper texture from fire damage, he said.
