Orange County Sheriff's Department Helicopter Crew Tails Journalist Probing Police Corruption

By R. Scott Moxley 

April  04,  2014 at 1:30 PM

After spending hours on March 31 interviewing multiple sources knowledgeable about Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD) corruption involving a jail informant program defense lawyers label dirty, a low-flying OCSD helicopter crew spent more than 40 minutes tailing me everywhere I drove in three different cities.

According to an OCSD spokesman, the crew headed by pilot Erik Baum is asserting an alibi: They were providing aerial "perimeter" support for Westminster Police Department (WPD) officers writing a routine report on a previous residential burglary call in a low-income neighborhood where there were no fleeing suspects.

Westminster is not a contract city for OCSD helicopter services, but Baum's story is that he just happened to have been flying in the region precisely when I arrived and he decided this particular burglary report, one of more than 10,000 taken in the county annually, became his priority for 48 minutes.

Asked to explain what made this burglary special enough to divert the use of a valuable public asset from the rest of the 948-square mile county, the department spokesman declined to elaborate other than to say Duke, the call name for the helicopter, was requested by WPD.

But the airborne law enforcement crew was not in Westminster or near the burglary location when they began tailing me and, though I eventually drove through that city, the helicopter continuously followed me to a third city during the time of the alleged perimeter support.

Staff ignored my request to interview to Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, who is seeking re-election, about the incident.

OCSD pilots, who technically aren't supposed to use public property for personal vendettas, historically operate with little or no meaningful oversight.

Taken from video of the helicopter tail, here are sample images captured at different times and different locations in three cities:  
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