Prosecutor, police sergeant charged in ticket-fixing scheme

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A veteran San Diego County prosecutor and a San Diego police sergeant were charged by the state Attorney General's Office with misdemeanor counts involving an alleged ticket-fixing scheme.
   Allison Debow, also known as Allison Worden, and Sgt. Kevin Friedman are each charged with one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and two counts of alteration or destruction of a vehicle citation.
   Debow has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case, according to District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.
   The criminal complaint, filed by Deputy Attorney General Michael Murphy, alleges that Worden was a passenger in a vehicle driven by another prosecutor, Amy Maund, on May 28 last year when they were stopped for not wearing seat belts.
   After Worden was unsuccessful in talking her way out of a citation, she called Friedman and "asked him if there was something he could do about the tickets," the complaint alleges.
   Murphy alleged that Friedman removed the originals of the citation form from a basket at a police station without informing the officer, and Debow told Maund that the ticket was dismissed because another woman had complained about the officer.
   Dumanis said her office has cooperated with an investigation by San Diego police, but it was more appropriate for the state Attorney General's Office to prosecute the case.
   "The District Attorney's Office has a zero-tolerance policy regarding unethical or unlawful behavior by its employees," she said. "If such activity is discovered, our office moves quickly to investigate and hold employees accountable."
   The filing document alleges Maund had asked Debow not to do anything about the ticket on her behalf.