LA County DA's office raids Huntington Park City Hall as part of corruption probe

HUNTINGTON PARK, Calif. (KABC) -- A search warrant was served at Huntington Park City Hall on Wednesday as part of a corruption investigation of the city's aquatic center.

Authorities said the search warrant was served by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office at 11 locations, eight of them in Huntington Park, in the probe that's been named "Operation Dirty Pond".

Current and former city councilmembers and city officials allegedly misused millions of dollars of tax money earmarked for a failed pool project.

City hall was shut down and had yellow crime scene tapes at the front and side entrances. Only law enforcement was allowed inside the building.

The homes of Mayor Karina Macias and Councilmember Eddie Martinez were also among the locations raided.

In a statement, Huntington Park officials said the following:

"The City of Huntington Park acknowledges that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office has made visits to current and former city officials. The city is committed to cooperating fully with the District Attorney's office throughout this process and remains dedicated to resolving the matter promptly and transparently."

Vice Mayor Arturo Flores, who said his home was not raided, told Eyewitness News that he was expecting Wednesday's raid.

"It's hard to air or to expose something when it's an active investigation and people are already working on it, you have to dial back, but up until a month and a half ago, I had enough," said Flores. "I started publicly and being very open that I was going to be championing for a formal investigation into the failed pool project that is now clearly being investigated by the L.A. County District Attorney."

Those who had business to take care of at city hall were frustrated that it was closed. Some told Eyewitness News they weren't surprised by the corruption investigation.

"Not surprised because we've been asking the federal government to do an investigation about what's going on in the city," said Felix Romero. "We've been waiting and I don't understand why we never have nothing done because we know these people are stealing from the city."

Some of those being investigated are vendors who have business with the city.

No arrests have been made.