King City Officers Make First Court Appearance

Four of the six King City police officers arrested last week faced a Monterey County judge Monday. The arraignments for Sgt. Bobby Carillo, acting Police Chief Bruce Miller and Officers Jaime Andrade and Mario Mottu Sr. were pushed back.

The four didn’t do any talking to the media or public, instead, letting their attorneys do the work. Miller was protected behind his lawyer, Juliet Speck.

“All I can say is that Mr. Miller was born in King City and serves his community. He appreciates the outpouring of support,” said Speck.

Miller didn’t lack support in the courtroom Monday. He was accompanied by an entourage of family members.

Bruce Miller’s brother, Brian, owner of Miller’s towing, was also there for his arraignment Monday.

The group is facing charges ranging from embezzlement, to bribery, to illegal weapons.

They were ordered by the judge to not have contact with each other. They all agreed except for Mario Mottu Sr.’s attorney, Richard Rosen.

“I’ve been trying cases for forty years involving co-defendants and they are always allowed to talk to each other. They have to talk to each other as they are on trial together,” said Rosen.

Rosen said his client, charged with embezzling a car, should not be lumped together with the other defendants in the case. He also said his client obtained the car legally from the former police chief and used it for parades and fairs.

Carrillo, Bruce and Brian Miller will have an arraignment on March 18th. Mario Mottu will appear in court again on Thursday with co-defendent and former Chief Nick Baldiviez.

Last week, the Monterey County district attorney said the accused officers, the acting chief, as well as the former chief, were all in a deal together.

Investigators said officers targeted poor Hispanic people in King City by pulling them over. Investigators said if those drivers didn’t have a license, officers would impound their car. The cars would allegedly sit at Miller’s Towing, owned by Bruce Miller’s brother.

The district attorney said these officers knew that the drivers couldn’t afford to get their cars out of impound, so the cars were sold or given to officers for free.

“Hundreds and hundreds of impounded cars, especially by Sgt. Bobby Carillo who is being charged with accepting a bribe,” said Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo.

Carillo is charged with accepting a bride and bribing an officer. Flippo said 87% of the cars he impounded were sent to Miller’s towing. The district attorney alleges Carillo got one of every 15 cars.

Acting chief Miller is charged with accepting a bribe. Former Chief Nick Baldiviez along with Officer Mottu Sr. is charged with embezzlement by a public officer.

“There were four other towing companies and it should have been divided equally,” said Flippo during the news conference last week.

Aside from the illegal operation, Officer Jaime Andrade was charged with illegally owning an automatic assault gun and illegal storage of these weapons. Officer Mark Baker was charged with criminal threats after allegedly beating up a King City resident.

Flippo stated it was a sad day for law enforcement.