Police Chief has no comment on allegations of police cover-up
Officer Juan Pesina, who is charged with eight counts of sex crimes, was sworn in in 2022. (Photo via Facebook) Editor's note: A portion...
Officer Juan Pesina, who is charged with eight counts of sex crimes, was sworn in in 2022. (Photo via Facebook)
Editor's note: A portion of this news article indicating that one of the victims was a minor has been deleted. We received an email from the District Attorney's Office at 12:30 p.m. Friday, stating that an allegation in the criminal complaint that a victim was a minor was a clerical error. The criminal complaint is being amended.
By Doug Spoon, Editor
The Menifee Chief of Police did not respond to allegations of a police cover-up in a brief statement to Menifee 24/7 Thursday, instead citing privacy laws.
Karrer's email sent Thursday night followed a request for comment by Menifee 24/7 on allegations that officer Juan Pesina -- who was charged on Thursday with eight counts of sex crimes -- was previously on administrative leave for disciplinary action. Karrer also cited privacy law in declining comment on allegations of misconduct by other officers.
Karrer wrote in the email that “After review, we have determined that the requested records are exempt from disclosure under California law Pursuant to California Penal Code section 832.7(a). Personnel records of peace officers are deemed confidential and are not subject to public release.”
The media inquiry to which Karrer responded was not submitted as a public records request. It was a request for comment on allegations by multiple sources that Pesina was previously under investigation by Menifee PD. A criminal complaint filed by the District Attorney’s Office on Thursday details alleged sex crimes by Pesina in 2023 and 2024, when he was employed by the department.
As part of a Menifee 24/7 investigation into that and other allegations of misconduct within the department, multiple sources have told Menifee 24/7 that Pesina was placed on administrative leave at some point in 2023 or 2024 – and that a resolution of that internal investigation was never publicly revealed. In Thursday’s email, Karrer neither confirmed nor denied that such disciplinary action took place.
Neither did Karrer comment on a separate allegation that another Menifee PD officer was recently cited by a CHP officer on suspicion of DUI but has not been charged. This follows months of City of Menifee denials of Menifee 24/7 public records requests regarding alleged internal investigations for misconduct made by at least 11 current and former officers.
Menifee 24/7’s investigation began when multiple sources accused the department of covering up the results of an employee survey conducted in 2024 as part of an officer’s school project toward his PhD degree. According to those sources, officers’ reviews of the department were so negative that city leaders have moved to keep them hidden, including a “cease and desist” letter from the city attorney to the author of the survey, who is on administrative leave.
A public records request for a copy of the survey – which city manager Armando Villa confirmed exists – was denied. In a letter to Menifee 24/7 from city attorney Jeffrey Melching, the denial was based on a government code which says, in part, that the record is exempt from public disclosure “or that on the facts of the particular case, the public interest served by not disclosing the record clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record.”
According to public records on Pesina’s background, he was an LAPD officer from 2018-2022 before he resigned in December 2022 to join the Menifee Police Department. There are no disciplinary documents regarding him in public records during his time with LAPD.
As stated previously, Menifee 24/7 has not received a response from Karrer or city manager Armando Villa to requests for an update on internal investigations Villa said are being conducted regarding several allegations by Menifee PD sources who have asked for anonymity for fear of retribution. These allegations include:
-- A Lieutenant allegedly violated the Police Officers Bill of Rights by using a master key to open all officers’ private mailboxes, leaving contents including personal department correspondence on a table for all to see.
-- A Sergeant allegedly conducted an illegal search and seizure of weapons by unlocking (without permission) a gun safe located at the residence of a suicide victim and removing the weapons.
-- A Sergeant allegedly threw a flashlight at a moving vehicle on the freeway (an incident which has been verified by video).
-- A Captain allegedly ordered a Sergeant to write up an officer without any documentation of policy violation, saying, “He did something. Find it and put it in his file.”
-- Allegations that none of these members of leadership were disciplined for their actions – and that all are allegedly the leaders in charge of Internal Affairs, where they discipline other officers.
