Ex-Bell police chief Randy Adams testifies on controversial emails, high salary during public corruption trial

The city of Bell’s former police chief Randy Adams took the witness stand Wednesday in the public corruption trial of ex-assistant city administrator Angela Spaccia. She faces 13 felony counts.  

Adams, subpoenaed by the defense, told a Los Angeles Superior Court jury about highly scrutinized emails between he and Spaccia in 2009 — just before he took the job of police chief.  

In that email exchange, Adams tell Spaccia that he’s looking forward to taking all of Bell’s money and she responds that he can take his share of the pie and “we can all get fat together.”

Adams told jurors those emails were taken totally out of context and made to look like some evil plan. He said he was joking with Spaccia because he felt the city could not afford him, and he was surprised when negotiations got serious.  

Adams, who had a 37-year  career in law enforcement before working for Bell, talked  about the $457,000-a-year salary the city agreed to pay him. He said about half of that compensation makes up money he earned in a retirement pension that would go away if he accepted a job with Bell. He said the other part of the salary is a regular police chief's pay. 

Spaccia is the former second-in-command for Bell's administration. Prosecutors have charged Spaccia with misappropriation of public funds and other felony counts.