The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 35

LOS ANGELES TIMES FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1993 B3 METRO NEWS Boy Who Killed Bike Shop Owner Sentenced to Maximum Term Courts: Judge orders the 12-year-old confined to the California Youth Authority until age 25. 1 He will undergo treatment in a strict behavior modification program. By VICKI TORRES TIMES STAFF WRITER The 12-year-old boy convicted of -degree murder in the shooting death of a popular Monrovia bicycle shop owner was ordered Thursday confined to the California Youth Authority until age 25. The order, issued by Pasadena Juvenile Court Judge Sherrill Luke, is the maximum term allowed for a juvenile. Citing a psychiatric report that said the boy has a conduct disorder characterized by physical aggression, physical cruelty and poorly developed internal LAPD Rights Panel Urges Firing Powell 1 Hearing: Board's recommendation to dismiss the officer convicted of violating Rodney King's civil rights is a formality.

State law prohibits felons from serving on the force. By JOHN HURST TIMES STAFF WRITER A perfunctory hearing Thursday by a Los Angeles Police Department Board of Rights brought Officer Laurence M. Powell a step closer to dismissal from the force because of his felony conviction in the Rodney G. King civil rights case. After reviewing federal court records documenting Powell's conviction in April of violating King's civil rights, the three Police Department panel voted to recommend to Chief Willie L.

Williams that Powell be fired. Neither the Board of Rights nor Williams has any discretion in the matter, according to police officials who explained that state law prohibits convicted felons from serving as police officers. "It's cut and dry," said Art Holmes, LAPD public information officer. "He can't hold the position of a Los Angeles police officer after he was convicted of a felony -period." Powell and LAPD Sgt. Stacey C.

Koon, who also was convicted in the case, are scheduled to enter federal prison Monday to begin a 30-month sentence. Powell did not attend the board of rights hearing. His attorney, Michael P. Stone, made an unsuccessful plea to the panel to put off its decision pending the outcome of Powell's appeal of his conviction. Stone said Powell did not attend the hearing because "he's more concerned with what's going to happen in the 'next 30 months.

That's why he didn't appear. There was nothing he could do." Stone told reporters that Powell is terrified of what might happen to him in prison. "He's terrified of things we would all be terrified of," he said. "And the great unknown." Powell, Koon and Officers Timothy E. Wind and Theodore J.

Briseno were tried and found not guilty last year of unlawfully beating King in a case marked by a citizen's videotape recording, the incident. The verdicts in Simi Valley the 1992 riots. The four officers were retried in federal court this year on charges of violating King's civil rights. Wind and Briseno were again acquitted. Wind, a probationary officer at the time of the beating, was fired from the force.

Briseno is fighting dismissal; his Board of Rights hearing has been continued until December. A Board of Rights hearing on Koon's dismissal will not be held until after the sergeant enters prison. Ex-Police Chief Pleads No Contest to Theft By ANDREA FORD TIMES STAFF WRITER A former Compton police chief pleaded no contest' Thursday to a felony charge that he stole at least $5,000 from an undercover drug-buy fund during his last two years with the department. Terry Ray Ebert, 49, entered the plea to grand theft before Los Angeles Municipal Judge Elva R. Soper.

She ordered him to be in court Nov. 5 for sentencing. He faces a maximum three- year prison term. Ebert also had been accused of trying to hide the loss of the money from auditors. The former chief was with the Compton department for 23 years and assumed the top post in 1990.

Ebert retired last summer after being placed on administrative leave when auditors discovered the theft. Ebert has maintained that he is innocent. He has contended that he tried to cover up the loss of the money only because he feared that the department would face disgrace if it was discovered. He told investigators that he intended to look into the theft himself, but he never got around to it. His lawyer, Edward George, would not say why Ebert changed his plea from not guilty to no contest.

"There are some extenuating circumstances that will be brought up at sentencing to explain the purpose of the plea and what he did," George said. The audit that revealed the missing $5,000 also uncovered other misuse of money and shoddy accounting practices while Ebert was chief. Another $28,000 could not be accounted for. Ebert was not accused of having taken that money. The $5,000 he is accused of stealing was kept in a locked, 8-by-10-inch metal box for use by officers in drug stings.

The box was kept in a locked cabinet in Ebert's office, and Ebert had the only keys, authorities said. When an audit of department funds seemed imminent last spring, authorities said, Ebert had a property officer take money from the police vault and replace the money missing from the metal box. The tactic was successful until an anonymous caller tipped off the Compton city controller and a second audit was conducted. Four empty envelopes that had held money in the police vault were later found in Ebert's desk, officials said. controls over his anger, Luke ordered the boy sent to a youth authority facility in Stockton that has a program for behavior modification.

"I feel for the parents of this minor, who have apparently done everything within their means and power to do the right thing by way of creating an environment for a good life for Luke said. "Yet he has repeatedly demonstrated his intent to do the wrong thing." The judge also expressed sympathy for the family of the victim, "who was shot down from the back without any provocation by this minor, who has expressed no remorse." On Sept. 13, Luke found the youth guilty of murder in the March 11 slaying of Jung Sam Woo, 49, owner of Bicycle Sam's, a shop frequented by -area children. According to testimony during the four-day trial, the 12-year-old walked with two other boys to the shop after school, boasting that he planned to steal a bicycle and displaying a revolver taken from beneath his father's bed. A Misty Farewell The boy shot Woo in the back of the head, a 13-year-old testified.

The boy ordered his companions to get bicycles, saying: 'I didn't shoot him for The shooting and subsequent unruly behavior by the boy in confinement has baffled authoritics, who say he had no prior criminal involvement, a stable family life and a psychological profile free of abuse or emotional problems. In issuing his verdict this month, Luke also called the case mystifying. But the judge went on to call the boy "a depraved person with a twisted mind." That statement drew protests Thursday from defense attorney Ron Applegate, who filed a motion seeking to disqualify Luke for bias. Luke dismissed the motion. The boy's parents were visibly upset and declined to comment after the judge issued his order Thursday.

Police had investigated the possibility of filing criminal charges against the boy's father. A 1992 state law makes it a felony to keep loaded fircarms in AXEL KOESTER For The Times Fog shrouds Victor Pappas as he pauses to look out at the Pacific Ocean from San Pedro's Point Fermin on his last day of lifeguard duty before returning to teach history at Carson High School. a house where there are children. Those guilty of the offense can be sent to state prison for up to three years and fined up to $10,000. The father told investigators that he kept the gun unloaded and the ammunition concealed on an unlighted shelf in the back of the garage, and that he was unaware his son knew about the weapon, Monrovia police Lt.

Patrick Hardy said. The witnesses who accompanied the boy to Bicycle Sam's gave conflicting accounts, with one boy saying the gun was loaded when pulled from under the bed and another saying the boy loaded it later. "It's certainly possible violated the law, but we can't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt," Hardy said. Pasadena Deputy Dist. Atty.

Philip Wynn said his office is considering filing charges against the father. Prosecution under the 1992 gun law has been infrequent in Los Angeles County, said Deputy Dist. Atty. David Ross. He estimated that county prosecutors have handled only half a dozen such Despite Gains, County Lobbies for State Help TIMES STAFF WRITER Budget: Officials fear that news of windfalls will endanger bills that would benefit health care and libraries.

By CARLA RIVERA Los Angeles County officials are waging a furious last -minute campaign to persuade Gov. Pete Wilson to sign legislation that would spare libraries and health clinics, despite revelations that the county now has more money in its budget than anticipated. Officials say they are concerned that publicity about the recent discovery of a multimillion-dollar budget savings will lead Wilson to conclude that the county. does not need the money, dooming dozens of health clinics and libraries that are scheduled to close. But as the county pleads for relief, it also continues to receive good financial news, the latest of which came in a report that it has greatly narrowed the huge budget shortfall that set the current fiscal crisis in motion.

In a memo submitted to supervisors this week, county administrators disclosed that the county has been able to close two-thirds of its original budget deficit. And if the legislation is approved and unions ratify a pending labor settlement, the gap will be less than $100 million, Chief Administrative Officer Harry L. Hufford said. Among the county's more significant accomplishments, Hufford said, were persuading state and federal authorities to provide $200 million more in health funding, and pressing the Legislature to exempt fire protection and other special districts from a controversial property tax shift, yielding about $150 million. Hufford said the county also successfully lobbied Wilson to extend the temporary -cent sales tax surcharge beyond its June 30 expiration date.

(The gain from that was not immediately clear, however: Hufford said the extension provided $361.6 million, but Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke contended it was closer to $180 million.) Meanwhile, the largest of the county's labor unions is scheduled to vote next week on whether to ratify a recently negotiated labor settlement that county managers say will save about $103 million. Labor leaders say they expect the agreement to be approved. County officials say they are pleased with the progress on the once fiscal front, but they concede that its timing might harm efforts to persuade Sacramento and the public that a crisis still exists. Not only is Wilson poised to decide the fate of libraries and health clinics, but the public will also have a big hand in determining the county's fortunes when it considers on the November ballot whether to extend the -cent sales tax increase. The county is suffering through what has been described as its worst fiscal crisis ever, and indeed, much of the closing of the shortfall is because of painful service cuts, a $70-million reduction in general relief welfare grants and layoffs of hundreds of workers.

County services could be in for further cuts if any of the pending measures fail, Burke noted Thursday during a meeting with Times editors and reporters. Burke said she met with Wilson last week to urge support of the sales tax extension, and she was co-author with Supervisor Deane Dana of a letter urging the governor's approval of the library and health clinic bills. The library bill would provide $32 million through creation of an assessment district to keep 43 public libraries operating, and the health bill would free up $72.8 million in state tobacco tax money to fund 24 health clinics that are slated to close. A spokesman for Wilson said Thursday that although he still has not decided whether to approve the legislation, the county's latest fiscal position, including the savings, will be taken into consideration. "He is aware of the latest news, but it's hard to say if it will have a direct impact on his decision," spokeswoman Beth Miller said.

Bloodworms Turning Up in Tap Water at Hawthorne Homes By KIM KOWSKY TIMES STAFF WRITER Uninvited visitors have wormed their way into Hawthorne's kitchens and bathrooms. A minor infestation of bloodworms- of the gnat -like midge- -is forcing the city to purge its municipal water system, which serves about half of Hawthorne's 12,000 households and businesses. The scarlet creatures, although unnerving to residents who have been finding them in their water glasses and bathtubs since last week, do not pose a health hazard, officials say. "When they first come out, they're in little balls and bright red and it takes them a few minutes to uncurl," said Grace La Force, whose son had an unpleasant encounter with the pests in his bath. "I called the Water Department and told them I had done had my worms for the day.

I knew I didn't want to eat 'em." State water officials investigating the infestation say it is rare to find bloodworms in drinking and bathing water because suppliers usually keep their reservoirs and tanks covered. "Nobody knows how they got into but vents are one way for them to get in or sometimes the tanks are not covered properly," said David Adam, a sanitary engineer for the state Health Department's division of drinking water and environmental management. Hawthorne officials began flushing city water tanks and adding extra chlorine to the water supply Tuesday. They hope to finish purging the water supply by Oct. 9 and, once they are done, will ask customers to flush out their pipes by removing filters from spigots and running the cold water tap for 20 minutes.

"There's not a health consideration," said Tom Quintana, Hawthorne's public information director. "The problem is more of an aesthetic one." Despite such assurances, some residents are drinking and cooking with bottled water -and sticking to sponge baths- -until the water system is worm-free. Or as La Force said, "I put my hands in the water as little as possible." Midges are tiny flies resembling mosquitoes, though they do not bite humans, said Rosser Garrison, an agricultural entomologist for Los Angeles County's Agricultural and Measures Department. The adults lay their eggs on the surface of ponds or lakes, where they hatch into larvae, known as bloodworms because their blood supply contains hemoglobin, he said. T'hey are not bloodsuckers, however.

"They're really kind of cute and they are very useful in aquatic ecosystems," Garrison said. "They can serve as a good food supply for other insects and fish. They also help to recycle nutrients into the bottom of the pond." (V.