Earlier this year, Los Angeles Police Department officials requested a meeting with city prosecutors to discuss sources of friction between the two departments.

Los Angeles City Attorney Heidi Feldstein Soto was pursuing criminal charges against a man suspected of being one of the pro-Palestinian protesters who sprayed red paint and set off a smoke device outside the Brentwood home of a prominent Jewish civic leader, according to a memo summarizing the March 7 meeting.

According to a copy of the memo reviewed by The Times, Feldstein Soto went to then-Police Chief Michel Moore and alleged that Rich Sergienko had been involved in the Thanksgiving protests.

But video footage from the scene did not identify Sergienko, Amgad Yousef, chief detective for the Los Angeles Police Department, said at the conference.

“For reasons unknown, the City Attorney showed an inordinate interest in the progress of the investigation into the large-scale protests, to the point of suggesting to the Police Chief that he identify and prosecute specific individuals,” Dennis Kong, deputy chief of the city attorney's regulatory and prosecution division, wrote in a memo outlining the issues raised by the LAPD.

The concerns outlined in the memo from the LAPD and Feldstein Soto prosecutors raise questions about why Soto would go to such lengths to give special treatment to Sergeenko, his harshest critic.

The protest, which sparked outrage at City Hall and led to a hate crimes investigation by the LAPD, took place outside the home of attorney Michael Tuchin, chairman of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), who donated $1,500 to Feldstein Soto's 2022 campaign.

Feldstein Soto did not respond to emailed questions about the April 9 memo. Tuchin and Moore, who retired from the LAPD in February, also did not respond to messages from The Times.

Kong did not respond to several requests for comment.

According to the memo, LAPD officials requested a meeting on March 7 to express concerns to Feldstein Soto's subordinates that their superiors were accusing the LAPD of not pursuing the case “vigorously.” They also wanted to discuss Feldstein Soto's “particular interest and sense of urgency in prosecuting Sergienko.”

At the meeting, a delegation from the City Attorney's Office assured LAPD officials — including Deputy Chiefs Blake Chou and David Kowalski of the Counterterrorism and Special Operations Bureau — that they did not share their superiors' concerns about the progress of the investigation.

Kong said in the memo that the City Attorney's Office was pursuing charges “based on probable cause, not political reasons,” and that Feldstein Soto may have implicated Sergienko with the LAPD “without any such reason.”

Kong wrote that Feldstein Soto “unilaterally” contacted the LAPD to offer his opinion on a possible suspect, “without any knowledge of the evidentiary status” and without notifying his department's detective division.

Sergeenko is an organizer for the left-leaning political group People's City Council, which has participated in protests at City Hall, candidate forums and the homes of city hall employees. The group is a longtime enemy of Feldstein Soto. Calling her “corrupt” And blame her Follow the orders of special interests.

The group is led by Feldstein Soto. Ten-year divorce proceeding Social media also includes allegations from her ex-husband, who described her behaviour as “bizarre”.

Colleen Flynn, Mr. Sergienko's lawyer, said she was “shocked” by Feldstein Soto's actions, as outlined in the April 9 memo. Flynn said Feldstein Soto was “out of control,” abusing his power and attacking Mr. Sergienko for his political views.

“I hope the city attorney does the right thing and resigns immediately. This is completely unacceptable for a first-class city,” she said.

Feldstein Soto recently Campaigning for a second term He will head the office that prosecutes minor crimes, defends the city against lawsuits and drafts legislation.

Since taking office as mayor in December 2022, he has faced criticism over his decision to sue a journalist who legally obtained mugshots of police officers from the city of Los Angeles. The City Council voted Friday to pay $300,000 to settle the lawsuit.

The memo, and the apparent move by Feldstein Soto prosecutors to distance themselves from her actions, is the latest sign of tensions within the City Attorney's Office, where at least four staff members have filed retaliation lawsuits against the office this year.

Administrative Coordinator Sean C. Tyler, in a July 26 filing, suggested Feldstein Soto had used the criminal justice system to “try to silence” Sergeenko. In the filing, Tyler questioned whether Feldstein Soto had given preferential treatment to Tuchin, who was a campaign donor, and accused Tuchin of secretly reading employee emails.

Last week, a Feldstein Soto aide called Tyler's claims “flashy” and said there was no truth to them.

LAPD Detective Yousef referred The Times to the LAPD's media team, which declined to discuss the situation.

“The case in question is under review and consideration for prosecution by the City Attorney's Office,” Detective Megan Aguilar said in an email.

Before Feldstein Soto was elected in 2022, the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office accused Sergienko and other protesters of disrupting a City Council meeting. Sergienko was charged with resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. Last year, a judge allowed Sergienko and another defendant to enter a diversion program.

When the lawsuit was dismissed, Sergeenko was photographed in court giving the finger. The People's City Council posted the photo on social media, Vulgar remarks made towards Feldstein Soto.

Last fall, the People's City Council Posted Videos Tweeting about the Thanksgiving protest on social platform X, Tutin described it as a “holiday wake-up call” for him and his family. Protesters against Israel's war on Gaza left behind bundles of white cloth smeared with red paint to represent a bloody baby.

They also Activate a smoke generator,spray Red paint on the road They were holding up a banner that read: “FUCK YOUR HOLIDAYS! BABY KILLERS.”

Mayor Karen Bass Condemned the protestsCity leaders as well Jewish CommunityFeldstein Soto too Weighed, X states that trespass, vandalism and threatening others are “not protected speech and should be prosecuted.”

Behind the scenes, she went further, telling police that she “positively identified and recognized Mr. Sergeenko” from security footage of the protest, according to the memo. Feldstein Soto told staff she had been in contact with the police chief “several times” about “Mr. Sergeenko's involvement in the protests,” the memo said.

According to the memo, Moore asked his subordinates “why Mr. Sergeenko had not yet been named the prime suspect.”

Flynn, the lawyer representing Mr Sergeenko, said he did not know whether his client had taken part in the protests.

“But even if that was the case, there is nothing in the memo or the police investigation to indicate any wrongdoing on his part,” she said. “Hence her only motivation for going after him is purely political – to silence his critics.”

People's City Council activist Rich Sergeenko was arrested during a Los Angeles City Council meeting in 2022. His case was dismissed last month.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

According to Kong's memo, LAPD detective Yousef said at the March 7 meeting that Feldstein Soto continued to mention Sergienko early in the investigation.

Yousef told attendees that the clearest footage of the protests showed “an unnamed individual covered from head to toe.” The LAPD had not been able to confirm that Sergeenko was at the scene or identify him as a suspect “inciting public order and vandalism,” according to the memo, Yousef said.

Yousef also sought to use cellphone data to identify suspects, according to the memo.

Loyola University Law School criminal law professor Laurie Levenson said that if Feldstein Soto came forward as a potential witness in the case or had an interest in it in any way, it would create a conflict of interest not only for herself but also, potentially, for her prosecution team.

Levenson said he was struck by the apparent lack of trust between Feldstein Soto and the prosecutors. He said the memo shows “there's a political infighting going on inside his own office.”

Kong addressed the memo to Michelle McGinnis, then the police chief's detectives chief, and two weeks later, McGinnis was placed on administrative leave and removed from the department, according to a damages claim she filed with the city in June.

McGinnis did not name Sergeenko in her complaint, but accused Feldstein Soto of directing her to prosecute individuals “who she believed were seen on video at protests” in the West Los Angeles area last year.

McGinnis alleged that Feldstein Soto gave these instructions “based on personal or political beliefs and/or for personal or political gain.”

Feldstein Soto's aide broadly refuted many of McGinnis's allegations but did not provide specifics.