arrest of fugitive in adl case los angeles times saturday may page a figure in adl spy case arrested at s f airport espionage former police officer is taken into custody upon arriving from philippines where he had fled after fbi interrogation by jenifer warren times staff writer san francisco a former san francisco police officer who fled to the philippines amid accusations that he funneled confidential law enforcement information to an investigator for the anti defamation league was arrested at the airport here on felony charges police said friday thomas j gerard who abruptly left the united states in october after the fbi questioned him about his activities was apprehended thursday night after a source in the philippines told investigators that gerard was returning home gerard was booked into san francisco county jail early friday morning on eight counts of theft of government documents and one count each of computer theft burglary and conspiracy if convicted on all charges gerard could face years in prison and in fines bail was initially set at after police argued that he was a flight risk but it was later reduced to a friend of gerard was trying to post bail late friday afternoon a sheriff s spokeswoman said gerard returned to the united because he missed his wife and child with whom he lived on a houseboat in sausalito and wanted to have his day in court said police capt john willett his former boss and one of two arresting officers gerard an undercover agent for the central intelligence agency from to also feared that the cia was out to kill him willett said in an interview with the times last month gerard threatened to disclose illegal cia support of death squads in central america if he was indicted and tried on the san francisco spying charges gerard is a central figure in a scandal over an intelligence network operated by the anti defamation league a prominent jewish civil rights organization investigators allege that gerard illegally gave criminal histories to roy bullock a san francisco art dealer who said he has been an undercover adl intelligence operative for years investigators said they found confidential police files in bullock s home computer which contained entries on people and groups and in boxes in his apartment files have also been seized under search warrants from adl offices in san francisco and los angeles but authorities have not disclosed their contents gerard could not be reached for comment friday and his attorney james lassart did not return telephone calls seeking comment in the interview with the times last month however gerard acknowledged snooping and sharing some information with bullock but denied any criminal wrongdoing bullock and gerard also are under investigation for selling intelligence to south africa adl officials have described bullock as a a week independent contractor and have vigorously denied knowledge of any illegal activity on friday adl lawyer jerrold ladar said gerard s arrest has nothing to do with adl other than that we have no comment on the case arab american groups which were a main target of the spying according to police applauded the arrest and pressed authorities to pursue the investigation we urge investigators to carry this case forward and to publicly disclose the full extent of adl and law enforcement involvement said james zogby head of the arab american institute in washington police meanwhile characterized gerard s arrest the first in the inquiry into the spying scandal as an unexpected breakthrough a former police colleague of gerard inspector fred mollat visited gerard several weeks ago and urged him to return home i knew he wouldn t want to live on an island on the lam forever but we didn t think it would happen this quickly capt willett said this development really speeds up our timetable on the case during his year career on the police force gerard was a highly regarded officer known for his work in the department s intelligence division his last assignment was on the gang task force after fbi agents questioned gerard last fall he took early retirement and fled to the remote jungle island of palawan miles south of manila gerard was arrested at p m as he stepped from his philippines airlines flight he was traveling alone and looked tanned but haggard after his six month hiatus police said he was surprised when he saw us standing there and got a shocked look on his face willett said then he said hello i m back yigal arens usc isi tv made me do it arens isi edu
