Rafael Antonio Pérez is a former
Los Angeles Police DepartmentThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With nearly 9,900 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 3.8 million people, it is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United...
C.R.A.S.H officer and the central figure in the
LAPD Rampart ScandalThe Rampart scandal refers to widespread corruption in the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department Rampart Division in the late 1990s. More than 70 police officers in the CRASH unit were implicated in misconduct, making it one of the most...
. He was involved in the coverup of a $722,000 bank robbery, shot and framed
Javier OvandoJavier Ovando became a central figure in the LAPD Rampart Scandal when he was shot and framed by corrupt Rampart officers Rafael Pérez and Nino Durden. Ovando was an illegal immigrant and a member of the powerful 18th Street Gang at the time...
, and stole and resold at least $800,000 of cocaine from
LAPDThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With nearly 9,900 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 3.8 million people, it is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United...
evidence lockers. He is accused of being a member of the
BloodsThe Bloods are a street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. They are identified by the red color worn by their members and by particular gang symbols, including distinctive hand signs...
, a notorious
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
gang, and murdering rapper Notorious B.I.G. at the behest of
Suge KnightMarion Hugh Knight, Jr. , better known as Suge Knight, is the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. The record label rose to dominate the charts after Dr. Dre's breakthrough album The Chronic in 1992. After several years of chart successes for artists including Tupac Shakur, Dr...
of
Death Row RecordsDeath Row Records is a record label that was founded in 1991 by Dr. Dre and Suge Knight, and was once home to some of West Coast hip hop's most well-known rappers, including 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound ....
. When Pérez was finally arrested, he implicated 70 other Rampart Division officers in various forms of misconduct, ranging from bad shootings to consuming alcohol while on duty.
Rafael Antonio Pérez is a former
Los Angeles Police DepartmentThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With nearly 9,900 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 3.8 million people, it is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United...
C.R.A.S.H officer and the central figure in the
LAPD Rampart ScandalThe Rampart scandal refers to widespread corruption in the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums anti-gang unit of the Los Angeles Police Department Rampart Division in the late 1990s. More than 70 police officers in the CRASH unit were implicated in misconduct, making it one of the most...
. He was involved in the coverup of a $722,000 bank robbery, shot and framed
Javier OvandoJavier Ovando became a central figure in the LAPD Rampart Scandal when he was shot and framed by corrupt Rampart officers Rafael Pérez and Nino Durden. Ovando was an illegal immigrant and a member of the powerful 18th Street Gang at the time...
, and stole and resold at least $800,000 of cocaine from
LAPDThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With nearly 9,900 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 3.8 million people, it is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United...
evidence lockers. He is accused of being a member of the
BloodsThe Bloods are a street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. They are identified by the red color worn by their members and by particular gang symbols, including distinctive hand signs...
, a notorious
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
gang, and murdering rapper Notorious B.I.G. at the behest of
Suge KnightMarion Hugh Knight, Jr. , better known as Suge Knight, is the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. The record label rose to dominate the charts after Dr. Dre's breakthrough album The Chronic in 1992. After several years of chart successes for artists including Tupac Shakur, Dr...
of
Death Row RecordsDeath Row Records is a record label that was founded in 1991 by Dr. Dre and Suge Knight, and was once home to some of West Coast hip hop's most well-known rappers, including 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound ....
. When Pérez was finally arrested, he implicated 70 other Rampart Division officers in various forms of misconduct, ranging from bad shootings to consuming alcohol while on duty. At least 106
LAPDThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With nearly 9,900 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 3.8 million people, it is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United...
arrests were overturned based on Pérez's testimony.
Early years
Rafael Antonio Pérez was born in
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands...
in 1967 and moved to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
early in his childhood. After moving to several locations, he would eventually be raised by his mother in Philadelphia. According to his lawyer, Winston Kevin McKesson, Pérez "remembers standing on a street corner as a child, watching drug dealers and dreaming of one day being the cop to arrest them."
Pérez graduated high school in 1985 and enlisted in the
United States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. He was hired by the
LAPDThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With nearly 9,900 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 3.8 million people, it is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United...
after leaving the Marine Corps in 1989.
Career
After serving on routine patrol duties, Pérez was transferred to a narcotics unit in 1992. In 1995 he was transferred to Rampart Division and assigned to
CRASHCommunity Resources Against Street Hoodlums, usually known by the acronym C.R.A.S.H., was a special unit of the Los Angeles Police Department. It was established in the early 1970s by then-chief Daryl Gates to combat the rising problem of gangs in Los Angeles, California...
, an anti-gang unit given a long leash by the LAPD. Pérez gained a reputation as a tough and effective officer, valued for his fluency in Spanish and his knowledge of L.A.'s gangs. According to fellow CRASH officer Ethan Cohan, officers would bet on which team would find a gun on a gang member each night. Cohan is quoted as saying, "Pérez always won. I just thought, this guy is really good."
Criminal activities
Pérez and his partner Nino Durden famously shot and framed an unarmed gang member
Javier OvandoJavier Ovando became a central figure in the LAPD Rampart Scandal when he was shot and framed by corrupt Rampart officers Rafael Pérez and Nino Durden. Ovando was an illegal immigrant and a member of the powerful 18th Street Gang at the time...
. Ovando, who was left paralyzed, was sentenced to 23 years in prison based on the officers' false testimony.
On August 25, 1998, Pérez, then at age 31 and a nine-year veteran of the
Los Angeles Police DepartmentThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With nearly 9,900 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 3.8 million people, it is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United...
, was arrested for stealing six pounds of cocaine from a department property room. (The theft was originally suspected to be an attempt at framing
Frank LygaFrank Lyga was an officer in the Hollywood Division of the Los Angeles Police Department known for shooting and killing Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums officer Kevin Gaines...
in retaliation for the shooting of Pérez's friend,
Kevin GainesKevin Lee Gaines was an officer assigned to the elite Los Angeles Police Department Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums unit implicated in the Rampart Scandal....
.) The cocaine was estimated to be worth $800,000 on the street.
February 2000
In February 2000, Pérez was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing 8 pounds of cocaine from an LAPD evidence locker. At his sentencing, Pérez read a statement in which he said, "I cheated on my wife. I cheated on my employer, and I cheated on all of you, the people of Los Angeles." The text of his statement can be found at .
December 17, 2001 -- federal charges
Pérez pled guilty to new charges resulting from the shooting of
Javier OvandoJavier Ovando became a central figure in the LAPD Rampart Scandal when he was shot and framed by corrupt Rampart officers Rafael Pérez and Nino Durden. Ovando was an illegal immigrant and a member of the powerful 18th Street Gang at the time...
. He was charged with conspiracy to violate Ovando's civil rights, and possessing a firearm with an obliterated
serial numberA serial number is a unique number assigned for identification which varies from its successor or predecessor by a fixed discrete integer value...
. He went on to serve 5 years in Federal prison.
October 31, 2006 felony count
On October 31, 2006, Pérez pleaded no contest to a felony count of perjury before the Torrance Superior Court.
Pérez, who legally changed his name to Ray Lopez, was arrested in July by
Department of Motor VehiclesIn the United States of America, a Department of Motor Vehicles is a state-level government agency that administers vehicle registration and driver licensing. Similar departments exist in Canada...
investigators while visiting his federal parole officer in Inglewood. Pérez pleaded no contest to lying in his application for a California driver's license on June 30, 2005.
Pérez was sentenced to an additional three years probation and 300 hours of community service.
Questions of Credibility
The credibility of Perez has been undermined by his testimony in several internal affairs investigations in which three officers, including
Brian LiddyBrian Liddy is a former officer of the Los Angeles Police Department. Liddy, together with Sgt. Edward Ortiz and former Officer Michael Buchanan, were the first to be charged with criminal wrongdoing in the Rampart Scandal...
, accused of crimes or misconduct were found not guilty or the charges were dropped. He has failed several lie-detector tests and has made several errors in his testimony in the past. The issue of Perez's credibility has already led to at least 5 cases of either dropped charges or acquittal.
Ongoing investigation into the murder of The Notorious B.I.G.
On April 16, 2007 relatives of rapper
The Notorious B.I.G.Christopher George Latore Wallace , popularly known as Biggie Smalls , Frank White , and by his primary stage name The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper.Raised in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, Wallace grew up during...
, aka Biggie Smalls/Christopher Wallace, filed a wrongful death suit against the city of
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
, former LAPD Officer Rafael Pérez and his partner former Officer
Nino DurdenGino Floyd Durden , known as Nino Durden, was an officer in the elite Los Angeles Police Department Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums unit implicated in the Rampart Scandal. Durden, along with Officer Rafael Pérez, was involved in the shooting and framing of Javier Ovando...
, seeking unspecified general, compensatory and punitive monetary damages. The lawsuit was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court by Wallace's mother, his widow
Faith EvansFaith Renée Evans is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actress and author. Born in Lakeland, Florida and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Evans moved to Los Angeles in 1993 for a career in music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B...
, and his two children.
The lawsuit states that Pérez,
Nino DurdenGino Floyd Durden , known as Nino Durden, was an officer in the elite Los Angeles Police Department Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums unit implicated in the Rampart Scandal. Durden, along with Officer Rafael Pérez, was involved in the shooting and framing of Javier Ovando...
, their partner former Officer
David MackDavid A. Mack is one of the central figures in the LAPD Rampart police corruption scandal. Mack was arrested for masterminding the November 6, 1997 robbery of $722,000 from a South Central Los Angeles branch of Bank of America. He was sentenced to 14 years and three months in federal prison...
, and "certain unknown persons" were responsible for the death of Christopher Wallace. The rapper was shot to death on March 9, 1997, as he and
Sean CombsSean John Combs , known by his stage name Diddy, is an American record producer, rapper, actor, men's fashion designer, entrepreneur and dancer. He won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award.He was originally...
left the 11th Annual Soul Train Music Awards after-party held at the
Petersen Automotive MuseumThe Petersen Automotive Museum is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles. One of the world's largest automotive museums, the Petersen Automotive Museum is a non-profit organization specializing in the education and history of the...
on
Wilshire BoulevardWilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining...
in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
. The lawsuit states the killing was committed "in a very efficient, organized and professional manner, suggesting that a high degree of coordination and planning preceded his murder." It further states that Pérez admitted to the
LAPDThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With nearly 9,900 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 3.8 million people, it is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United...
that he and
David MackDavid A. Mack is one of the central figures in the LAPD Rampart police corruption scandal. Mack was arrested for masterminding the November 6, 1997 robbery of $722,000 from a South Central Los Angeles branch of Bank of America. He was sentenced to 14 years and three months in federal prison...
"conspired to murder, and participated in the murder of
Christopher WallaceChristopher or Chris Wallace may refer to:*Christopher Wallace , retired British Army general and current trustee of the Imperial War Museum*The Notorious B.I.G...
." Both Pérez and
Nino DurdenGino Floyd Durden , known as Nino Durden, was an officer in the elite Los Angeles Police Department Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums unit implicated in the Rampart Scandal. Durden, along with Officer Rafael Pérez, was involved in the shooting and framing of Javier Ovando...
were on duty during the night of March 9,.
Wallace'sChristopher or Chris Wallace may refer to:*Christopher Wallace , retired British Army general and current trustee of the Imperial War Museum*The Notorious B.I.G...
murder is believed to have been in retaliation for the murder of
Tupac ShakurTupac Amaru Shakur , also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He has sold 75 million albums to date and is one of the best-selling music artists in the world. In addition to his status as a top-selling recording artist, Shakur was a promising actor and a social...
.
Tupac ShakurTupac Amaru Shakur , also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He has sold 75 million albums to date and is one of the best-selling music artists in the world. In addition to his status as a top-selling recording artist, Shakur was a promising actor and a social...
was a member of
Death Row RecordsDeath Row Records is a record label that was founded in 1991 by Dr. Dre and Suge Knight, and was once home to some of West Coast hip hop's most well-known rappers, including 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound ....
, run by
Marion "Suge" KnightMarion Hugh Knight, Jr. , better known as Suge Knight, is the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. The record label rose to dominate the charts after Dr. Dre's breakthrough album The Chronic in 1992. After several years of chart successes for artists including Tupac Shakur, Dr...
. Knight is known to have hired off-duty Rampart cops for security such as
Kevin GainesKevin Lee Gaines was an officer assigned to the elite Los Angeles Police Department Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums unit implicated in the Rampart Scandal....
, who was shot to death by fellow LAPD officer
Frank LygaFrank Lyga was an officer in the Hollywood Division of the Los Angeles Police Department known for shooting and killing Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums officer Kevin Gaines...
on March 18, 1997. Knight, who grew up in
ComptonCompton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, south-southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city was incorporated in 1889. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 93,493....
, is well known for his ties to the
BloodsThe Bloods are a street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. They are identified by the red color worn by their members and by particular gang symbols, including distinctive hand signs...
. Following his arrest, detectives found several photos of Rafael Pérez flashing Blood gang signs. The connection between Pérez and the murder of
Christopher WallaceChristopher or Chris Wallace may refer to:*Christopher Wallace , retired British Army general and current trustee of the Imperial War Museum*The Notorious B.I.G...
has long been a source of speculation by the
LAPDThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With nearly 9,900 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 3.8 million people, it is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United...
.
The current wrongful death lawsuit states that Pérez was a member of "a violent street gang associated with Death Row Records." and that he was partly responsible for Wallace's death.
Pop culture
In the game
Grand Theft Auto: San AndreasGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a sandbox-style action-adventure computer and video game developed by Rockstar North. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, the fifth original console release and eighth game overall...
character officer Tenpenny is loosely based on Rafael Perez.
In the movie Training Day, Denzel Washington said he emulated the style of Rafael Perez to give his character Alonzo, a more authentic aspect.