Judge wants collector, SMPD to work out case on their own
AIRPORT COURTHOUSE A retired Santa Monica police officer and department historian accused of stealing collectible police badges was arraigned here on Wednesday morning.
Evan Mason, 52, pleaded not guilty to two counts of theft by embezzlement. Those charges were filed by the LA County District Attorney’s Office on Jan. 12.
A police memorabilia collector, Mason, who was granted disability retirement from the Santa Monica Police Department in 1988 after serving on the force for approximately nine years is accused of withholding nine historic police badges that are believed to be worth a considerable amount of money.
Still, Judge Keith Schwartz is reportedly hoping the issue can be settled outside of the courtroom.
“He definitely expressed that he hoped we could settle this,” said Mason’s attorney, Stephen Wood, of Quinn The judge also suggested that Deputy District Attorney Renee Korn supply the defense with a list of the specific badges in question, according to Wood.
Meanwhile, the police department has made numerous requests to Mason to return the badges, Korn insisted on Wednesday.
Mason was an honorary volunteer historian for the SMPD who had been writing a book detailing the history of the department. The book was reportedly a source of conflict between Mason and former Police Chief James T. Butts Jr. over copyright issues.
The department accused Mason of withholding the badges, including a 1930s badge worn by the late Police Chief Clarence Webb, and several historical photographs of the department. The SMPD provided Mason with the materials in question and allowed him to store them at his home in Paso Robles while they were in the process of moving to the new Public Safety Facility in 2003. Mason insists the badge from the 1930s has been in the hands of Webb’s daughter, Faye Webb, since her father’s death in 1973. The younger Webb wrote a formal declaration in March 2006 backing up Mason’s claim.
Police conducted a search warrant at Mason’s home on Jan. 26, 2006, and seized items including an Apple computer tower, a laptop, RCA police radios, and a manila envelope containing the manuscript. The search warrant listed that any “articles or manuscripts written by Evan Mason that describe or depict property misappropriated from the Santa Monica Police Department” be seized.
The defense has argued that the manuscript has no relationship with any of the collector’s items Mason is accused of withholding.
Mason became the department’s historian after serving as a member of the SMPD Centennial Committee in 1996. As a volunteer historian, Mason had access to the SMPD archives.
He is expected back at Airport Courthouse on March 13 for the setting of his preliminary hearing.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 22, 2007. Read the original PDF.