A preliminary hearing is underway in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom for two former Torrance police officers accused of painting a swastika and other graffiti on a car impounded from a theft suspect in January 2020.
The Superior Court hearing will determine whether there is enough evidence against ex-officers Cody Weldin and Christopher Tomsic to conduct a trial on felony charges of vandalism and conspiracy. The hearing is expected to go on intermittently for at least two weeks before Judge Craig Richman.
Weldin’s attorney, Tom Yu of Rancho Cucamonga, argues that Weldin should not be charged with a felony, contending the actual damage to the vehicle was only $10, while the minimum for felonies is $400.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said it would save its response on the amount of damage for the court proceedings.
The city of Torrance this month paid $750,000 to settle a federal lawsuit by the owner of the silver 2004 Hyundai Elantra allegedly defaced by the police officers.
The investigation into the swastika incident mushroomed into a national scandal after the discovery that Torrance officers allegedly traded racist and homophobic text messages, including jokes about lynchings and gassing Jews.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta in December 2021 launched an investigation into the alleged racist behavior at the Torrance Police Department, with the backing of Police Chief Jeremiah Hart.
“Changes need to be made in the Torrance Police Department,” Bonta said at the time.
At least four officers involved in the texting scandal have been terminated or resigned from the police department. A former Torrance police recruit also implicated in the racist texts was suspended from the Long Beach Police Department, Separately, Tomsic and Weldon were fired in March 2020 after the misconduct allegations were leveled.
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2 former Torrance policemen accused of spray painting swastika
The scandal began with a simple theft call just after 4 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2020, on Maricopa Street. Weldin and Tomsic were dispatched to investigate a report that three men allegedly were stealing boxes from an apartment mail room, according to court documents.
The men, including the owner of the Hyundai, Kiley Swaine, were arrested and the car was impounded. No charges were filed against Swaine.
Before the tow, Tomsic signed a California Highway Patrol form attesting that the vehicle had not been vandalized.
But when Swaine went to the impound yard to pick up the vehicle two days later, he found the back bumper was spray painted white, a side mirror also was painted and a swastika and smiley face were drawn on the upholstered seats. Protein powder and dry cereal were scattered throughout the car.
The impound yard agreed to cover the cost of what police said was $2,750 in repairs, although there was no evidence the business was at fault, according to a police affidavit.
During an interview with investigators, the tow driver said he saw Tomsic spray-painting the outside of the car. The driver also received a text message from Weldin apologizing for the damage, the affidavit said.
Investigators had the driver call Weldin while they listened in. Weldin did not deny painting the car even after the tow driver asked him to “come clean,” said the affidavit.
The driver then placed a monitored call to Tomsic, who tried to blame Weldin, saying, “Weldin is the instigator of all this. … I’ve been pissed at Weldin since then,” according to the affidavit.
The driver said he was frustrated that he was getting blamed for the vandalism. Tomsic answered, “Yeah, it was Weldin, dude, I know.”