Former cadet sues over firing, alleges affair with police chief

SAN FERNANDO: Top lawman still on leave.

A former cadet with the San Fernando Police Department sued the city and its police chief this week, claiming that she was wrongfully fired as a result of a sexual affair she carried on with the chief.

Maria Barajas, 22, alleged that Chief Tony Ruelas began "improperly communicating" with her and that they first had sexual contact in his city-issued vehicle in 2009.

She was a virgin when she eventually had sex with him in a Comfort Inn in Woodland Hills in March 2009, according to the lawsuit.

Ruelas, 49, has been on paid leave since February as the city conducts an internal investigation. The married father of three is a 24-year veteran of the department and became chief in August.

He allegedly told Barajas that "this loser organization," was no good for her while trying to persuade her to leave the department before she was fired, according to Barajas.

"He really took advantage of her," said Daniel Glaser, Barajas' attorney. "... The public needs to be able to trust their chief of police and some of the things he said, even about the city of San Fernando ... indicate that he doesn't hold the city in high regard."

Ruelas declined comment.

The suit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, includes claims of wrongful termination, emotional distress and civil rights violations, and asks damages starting at $25,000.

Ruelas, then a lieutenant, allegedly used his position to convince Barajas that

it would be in her best professional interest to have sex with him, and sent her increasingly explicit text messages, emails and phone calls. She had sex with him at least once after she was fired, according to the lawsuit.

Lt. Jeffrey Eley and Officer Alvaro Castellon were also named as defendants.

The two knew about the relationship, threatened Barajas from revealing it, and "conspired to terminate" her from the cadet program, according to the suit.

Castellon warned that Barajas "might disappear" if she talked about the relationship, according to the lawsuit. He instructed her not to attend a public swearing-in ceremony when Ruelas took office as chief last August.

But she did attend, and was escorted by Castellon, who kept a close eye on her for the entire event.

Barajas was fired from the department in June 2009 after a car she was in with other police explorers was in a traffic accident, she said. Although she wasn't the driver and there was no alcohol involved, Ruelas and Eley determined she was responsible because she was the oldest in the car, she said.

They gave her the option to resign or be fired, and she resigned. But she later received a memo saying that she was fired, Barajas wrote. The mark on her record has blacklisted her from any law enforcement jobs, according to the lawsuit.

The investigation appears to have driven a wedge between higher-ups and the rank and file.

Eley was one of three lieutenants to issue a vote of no confidence against Ruelas in February in a memo.

On the other hand, Castellon was the first among 17 rank-and-file officers to sign a memo denouncing the management's memo and offering support for Ruelas.

"Before Chief Ruelas stepped foot into the Chief's Office, the management team was already formulating a no confidence pact," according to the second memo, calling the first a "swift maneuver ... to vilify the chief before the entire facts of the matter are brought forth."

Lt. Robert Jacobs, who has been named interim chief, said that any dissension in the department has since disappeared.

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