Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is missing after walking away from his San Marino home, authorities confirmed to KTLA.
LASD’s Special Enforcement Bureau said Baca was reported missing Sunday and that the department was in contact with family members, who are concerned for his safety, and offering needed resources and support in locating him.
The 82-year-old former L.A. sheriff, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, served a three-year federal prison sentence after being convicted in 2017 of obstruction of justice.
Baca, who resigned amid the corruption scandal in 2014, was convicted of lying to the FBI and trying to thwart the agency’s investigation into corruption in the nation’s largest jail system.
Agents had been secretly looking into allegations of bribery and inmate beatings by jail guards in 2011, when Baca and his top lieutenants learned that an inmate was acting as an FBI informant.
Baca and top brass hatched an elaborate plot to hide the informant in the jail system by booking him under false names and moving him to different locations. They also tried to intimidate an FBI agent by threatening to arrest her.
Baca and his chief deputy, Paul Tanaka, were both convicted. Tanaka was sentenced to five years in prison.
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Officials with LASD told KTLA that it is unclear what time the 82-year-old was reported missing or what clothing he was wearing at the time, but that the department is sending units to assist the San Marino Police Department.
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