CAUGHT IN THE ACT? KCBS SAYS HEALTH INSPECTOR SOUGHT BRIBE.

Byline: David R. Baker Daily News Staff Writer

The Los Angeles County Health Department has suspended an inspector over allegations aired by KCBS (Channel 2) that he demanded bribes from a restaurant owner in return for giving an A grade, officials said Sunday.

John Schunhoff, chief of operations for public health at the Department of Health Services, said the inspector was suspended without pay Thursday. On hidden-camera video, the man was shown demanding and receiving a bribe, according to the KCBS investigative report that aired Sunday night.

KCBS identified the inspector as Orlando Arias. Schunhoff would not identify the man, citing confidentiality concerns in handling personnel matters.

``All this was a setup from Channel 2,'' Arias said at his Van Nuys home Sunday when contacted by the Daily News.

The bribery allegation is now the subject of an internal Health Department investigation being run in cooperation with the District Attorney's Office, Schunhoff said.

``This is abhorrent behavior, and it's an outrage that we have an inspector who thinks he can get away with this,'' Schunhoff said.

KCBS, which broadcast reports last year on unhealthy conditions in restaurants that spurred county officials to create the restaurant grading system, launched the current investigation after receiving tips that some restaurant owners were being approached for bribes, investigative reporter Joel Grover said in an interview.

Posted in bright blue letters next to eatery entrances, the grades can make the difference between a restaurant's survival or demise, Grover said.

``Anything less than an A will hurt that business, because a lot of people won't eat at a restaurant with a B or a C,'' he said.

Grover obtained the cooperation of one restaurant - Wok Avenue in Burbank - to try to catch a bribe-taking inspector in the act. The restaurant had an A grade until Arias began inspecting it, Grover said.

Working with the restaurant's owner, Grover planted five cameras in and around the restaurant. The cameras appear to catch Arias glancing in a pantry and saying it would need to be cleaned up, then drawing the owner into a bathroom.

``It's going to cost 200 to get an A,'' the inspector says on the tape. ``You pay 200 here today, you get an A.''

When the restaurant owner asks if he should write a check, the inspector responds, ``Green money.''

The tape then shows the restaurant owner counting out $200 in $20 bills. Grover said Arias gave the restaurant an A without finishing the inspection.

Arias' attorney, Harold Greenberg of Los Angeles, said Sunday evening that he had not seen the videotaped footage of his client. ``At this stage, I don't have any facts,'' Greenberg said. ``All I have is an allegation, and I don't have any evidence to form an opinion.''

He said he had many questions about the sting operation, but acknowledged Arias could face serious repercussions if the case proceeds.

``He has a job; he's been there for eight years,'' Greenberg said. ``To me, more important, there could be criminal charges of accepting a bribe. I think it's a question of influencing a county official.''

Schunhoff said the suspended inspector had been investigated on similar allegations in 1993, but the county inquiry at that time did not turn up enough evidence to warrant any action against him. If the current investigation finds credible evidence of wrongdoing, the inspector could be relieved of his job and face possible prosecution, Schunhoff said.

KCBS will air a second installment of the report, featuring an interview with Arias, tonight at 11. The report airs during the important November sweeps period for television stations.

Schunhoff said he hoped the incident would not undermine trust in the grading system. He noted that there have been only five or six similar complaints leveled against county health inspectors in the past two years, and not all of those concerneWd restaurant inspections. No disciplinary action was taken following those investigations.

``This should not shake the confidence in the popular program to grade restaurants,'' Schunhoff said. ``We have no evidence that this is widespread.''

The county already has several procedures in place to make sure such problems don't occur, he said. For example, the supervisors of restaurant inspectors are supposed to visit restaurants on their own to make sure the grades given are accurate.

A spokesman for county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who helped create the grading system, said the supervisors would discuss the problem Tuesday.

``Steps have to be taken to make sure that customers can be comfortable knowing that the grade is based on the standards of the county and is not based on a bribe or favor,'' said Cam Currier, Antonovich's press deputy.

Daily News Staff Writer Deborah Sullivan contributed to this story.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

PHOTO (1 -- color) This shot taken from KCBS (Channel 2) footage allegedly shows a restaurant owner counting out $200 in $20 bills to give to a health inspector for an A grade.

KCBS

(2 -- color) Inspector Orlando Arias appears in KCBS footage that allegedly shows him demanding a bribe from a restaurant owner for an A grade.

KCBS