The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department did not get the proper approval for an emergency helicopter landing pad behind Sheriff Alex Villanueva's home in La Habra Heights, a county audit found.
An internal assessment about threats to Sheriff Alex Villanueva sparked the idea for a helipad above his home, but the department reportedly didn't get the needed OKs before starting work.
When aides to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva wanted to build a helicopter landing pad near the sheriff’s home, they sought help from a familiar face.
J. Isaac Gonzalez, a former sheriff’s deputy, now works for the parent company of the Southern California Gas Co. The utility owns a plot of land on a hill above Villanueva’s La Habra Heights house that sheriff’s officials decided was a suitable spot for a helicopter to land in an emergency.
“Sounds easy,” Gonzalez texted to a Sheriff’s Department lieutenant who had pressed him to get the gas company’s approval for the project.