Pasadena Officer Accused of Extortion
By Terry Miller
A new formal complaint alleges Officer Okamoto had ” attempted to extort a bribe from an attorney” according to documents received by this newspaper.
Attorney Michael Kraut sent a letter of complaint to Chief of Police Phillip Sanchez on July 30 citing allegations that Okamoto attempted to get bribes from a defense council, Attorney Jeffrey Voll.
In the complaint, Attorney Michael Kraut says Voll saw Officer Okamono on Dec 9, 2010 and the officer approached Voll about re-arresting his client’s father ( from a previous case .) Voll apparently asked Okamoto under what authority he had to facilitate such a re-arrest. Okamotos’ response was ” Hawaii Tickets”
In the sworn declaration on July 23, 2012, Voll said ” Okamoto advised me that he had worked with private defense lawyers who have done him and other Passadena law enforcement officers favors such as flying them to Las Vegas for the weekend.”
In the sworn declaration Voll says ” Detective Kevin Okamoto committed an act of extortion against me in Pasadena Sperior Court Dec.9, 2010.”