DA drops 57 cases in San Francisco cops scandal

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco prosecutors said Wednesday they're dropping dozens more cases handled by a group of police officers who are accused of conducting illegal searches on suspects, and investigators were looking into whether more could be implicated in the scandal.

An afternoon court hearing was scheduled to formally dismiss the felony and misdemeanor cases, which would bring the total to 57 dropped over the past week, District Attorney George Gascon said.

Seven officers and a sergeant are under federal and local investigation for raiding rooms without warrants at a downtown residential hotel notorious for drug activity. Hotel surveillance video of some of the raids surfaced last week.

Gascon, who was police chief when the alleged incidents occurred, said charges in the felony cases could be refiled, though his office likely would no longer pursue the dropped misdemeanors.

Most were drug cases, though some were robberies and assaults, Gascon noted. None was a homicide.

San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi sent a letter to Gascon this week, demanding arrest reports involving the accused officers dating back seven years.

"These alleged acts of misconduct committed by these officers have great ramifications," Adachi wrote.