Maywood Community and Putting the Maywood PD on Blast

Maywood Community and Putting the Maywood PD on Blast


Cop Watch Los Angeles

Maywood is a small city with about 40 cops, and it is a clear example of how the police relates to the community as an institution. They work hand in hand with greedy politicians and greedy businesses to exploit, repress, rape, and murder people from oppressed communities.

The community in Maywood, and organizations like Padres Unidos de Maywood (PUMA - United Parents of Maywood) has been organizing the community, fighting back, shining the light on the lies, and putting forward clear demands.

These are the cases of police brutality that have come to light, and we want to help expose these individual cops, and also support the community of Maywood in getting rid of them. They are being put on blast, and going on what we call the Pig Injunction (CWLA Database).

Officer Pablo Cunningham:
-He is known for harassing young people, and the community in Maywood.
-On September 2006, he choked a young Chicano man while he was handcuffed and in custody. He kneed the youth on his testicles and jumped on his kneecap. They disconnected the cameras in the holding cell where before he was beaten. No charges were ever filed against him, they tried to get him for resisting arrest, but the DA hasn't filed any charges. The youth was hospitalized, and Cunningham told the hospital that he got gotten in a fight with another inmate that's why he had bruises. A county nurse didn't believe the youth about being brutalized by the police. While in custody they raised the youth's bail from $150,000 to 250,000.
-On another occasion, with the same family, he smacked a woman in the face then molested her 14-year-old daughter (groping her, and touching her vagina).
-He kicked a young Chicano of 14 years old in his back for no reason.

City Council Member Samuel Peña:
-He was seen at the Copa Cabana/House Lounge getting drunk while four cops protected him/did private security for him. A member of the community called him out at a City Council Meeting. He then showed up to the person's house later that same night with Officer Salgada, threatening the community member not to open her mouth. They were continuing to harass the person and her family every night.
-He bought two mansions in Rosarito, paid for with cash that was given to him by Maywood Club Tow.

KHOSROABADI, TOORADJ - owner of Maywood Club Tow. He's also known as "Tony Bravo."
Maywood Club Tow is located at:
6026 Walker Ave
Maywood, CA 90270
(323) 773-9050
They also have another location (not sure when this location opened) in Bell:
4550 Cecilia St
Bell, CA 90201
323) 562-0506
-The towing company would work together with police to tow people's cars and sell them in Mexico and in Maywood. The police would set up checkpoints in the city to check if people had licenses, and then called the towing company.
-The owner of the towing company paid for a full expense trip to Las Vegas for the police and bought them their own personal sex workers there with the money they got from selling people's cars.
-People discovered that their cars were being sold when they would place cars on 30-day hold, and when people went to pick them up the cars weren't there.

Officer Menchaca:
-killed an innocent person in Cudahy (Maywood and Cudahy share the same police department).
-He was heard saying when he was drunk and off duty that he will kill somebody, and 2 weeks later he killed an innocent person in Cudahy.

Officer Dennis Acevedo:
-paid under age women to have sex with him
-known for harassing under age women
-known for harassing youth
-one incident he detained somebody for sagging pants, saying "I don't allow that, in my city people have to dress properly."

Officer Villegas:
-beat his wife and he was never punished for it
-His girlfriend was an Explorer (a program where young people get to ride along with police) of 14 years old. When his wife found out about it, he beat her, and she had to put a restraining order on him.

Officer Lynch:
- was caught sexually assaulting a woman

Officer Alvarez:
-took youth out of their homes at gunpoint, while flashing the light at them including a disabled youth

Officer Meza:
-He wanted to "help" a 14 year old girl when she was on drugs and made her a Police Explorer (a program for where young people ride along in police patrols cars).
-He took advantage of her, and she became pregnant at 15 years old. In 2005 they took a trip to Honduras where she got an abortion.
-He has taken away the most cars from people and they call him "The Champ," because of this.
-From the cars he impounded, he gave his under age lover 2 cars, which were registered in her father's name.
-When he would take people's car away he would say, "Tell Father David's mom from the Church of Saint Rose of Lima to help get your car out" (Father David is known for helping the community, and supporting them when they get brutalized by the police to win people some civil rights).

Officer Mike Murielo:
-Molested two young women. He touched them on the chest and threatened to arrest them for unpaid tickets if they didn't talk to him.
-He told one of the women to put her hands on her head then put his hands down her pants and touched her crotch.
-The two women left the state because they were scared for their life, Murielo would return every night, and park outside of their house.


Maywood Police Chief Bruce Lefler
-Was aware of all cases and did nothing

*police harass women
*the police were never punished for their crimes
*In domestic violence cases the police harass the women, don't protect them, and in one case Officer Cunningham tried to solicit the woman for sex.
*Father David has been supporting families who have been victims of police brutality, and has been involved around several issues for civil rights for years in Maywood. Police has threatened his life recently.



Maywood is a clear example of the role of the police in our communities. The police as an institution systematically oppress people in the community. They are the biggest criminals, and conspire with politicians and capitalists in our community to terrorize people. Maywood is a community where people fear being disappeared for resisting by the paramilitary police.

We need to create our own institutions of people's power, because the system failed us, it was never meant to represent the people, only maintain an oppressive power structure. The police are the problem in our community, we don't need them -- we need to rely on ourselves and organize ourselves without police occupation.

In a Maywood City Council Meeting on Tuesday February 27, 2007 a youth whom the police had brutalized and who had missing teeth due to police brutality. His only crime was being witness to his neighbor being beat by cops, and was himself beat after he asked the cops for their badge numbers. He spoke out: "I'm not scared of gang members, I'm scared of the cops, they are the biggest gang."