Altadena Sheriffs Deny Targeting Wally's Barbershop

Others in the community, such as barbershop employees Matthis Ward and Wally's son, Richard Riddle, disagree and think police are making unfair assumptions about the business.

By Justin Chapman
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November 12, 2010

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Richard Romono (sitting) comes from Tujunga to get his haircuts from Wally (standing).

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Richard Romono (sitting) comes from Tujunga to get his haircuts from Wally (standing).

Credit Justin Chapman

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Wally Riddle was born and raised in Altadena. The grandfather of seven kids began cutting hair when he was in high school. The 58-year-old's barbershop on Fair Oaks Avenue has been operating for 13 years. Gangs, drugs and poverty, he said, existed long before he got there.

"It was worse before I got here," he said. "I didn't bring it with me."

At a contentious town hall meeting last week with Altadena Sheriffs Capt. Steve McLean and Town Council members, several residents and Wally's son, Richard Riddle, spoke about what they see as aggressive overuse of force against African-Americans and unfair targeting of certain businesses in West Altadena, including Wally's Barbershop.

Riddle alleged that Altadena deputies try to deter customers from entering the store and have told potential customers that gang members hang out at the shop. Employees of the shop gave accounts of such actions as well.

"It's most definitely unfair of the deputies to stereotype our business that way," said 32-year-old Matthis Ward, an employee at Wally's. "We have politicians, students, teachers, city workers, DJs, even cops get haircuts here. I'm sure some customers are gang members, but they don't hang out here. They just come to get their hair cut."

Altadena Sheriff's Department's Capt. McLean could not be reached for comment, but Lt. Roosevelt Johnson denied that deputies have been telling the community that Wally's Barbershop is a gang hangout or that they've been unfairly targeting the shop.

"During the town hall meeting last week, someone from the community brought up Wally's," said Johnson. "We never brought that up, and we have no knowledge of that assertion being true. Our job is to respond to calls and monitor activity in the area, not necessarily just Wally's."

At the meeting, McLean declined to discuss the existence of a list that labels people as gang members and businesses as gang hangouts, drawing a reaction from the angry crowd.

Though he's wary of what police may be saying about his business, Wally Riddle doesn't believe the perceived characterization has hurt his bottom line.

"It's more the economy than this issue," he said. "The same people come back, just not as often. My customers know this is not a gang hangout."

Riddle's barbershop services a wide range of clientele, almost all of whom are repeat customers, he said.

One cust0mer, Richard Romono, 33, said he grew up in Pasadena. Although he now lives in Tujunga, he still goes to Wally's for his haircuts, he added.

"I still come here for the excellent service, the great haircuts, and the friendly environment," he said as Wally put the finishing touches on his new cut.

Wally said he does his part to prevent any wrongdoing from occurring in front of his shop. He pointed out that there's a liquor store and two burger joints against the street where groups of people hang out.

"If a group of people dressed a certain way go to Fair Oaks Burger or McDonald's to get something to eat, does that make those places gang hangouts?" he said. "People come to my shop to get their hair cut. That's it."

At last week's town hall meeting, McLean did discuss his philosophy of policing and said he believes good relations with the community are a vital part of reducing crime. He said he has instructed deputies to engage people in conversation and have good interactions with the community.

McLean added that he has tried to put that into practice personally: He visited the barbershop about a month ago to talk to Wally about the situation.

"I basically told the captain that I'm going to do what I can do, and you guys do what you can do," said Wally. "We're both just doing our jobs."

Do you think the police are targeting any Altadena businesses or people? Have you visited Wally's Barbershop? Tell us in the comments.

Thanks. We'll email you the next time we update this story.

Angela Odom

1:40 pm on Friday, November 12, 2010

I am really enjoying the Patch and thank you Justin for this article. I rarely travel Fair Oaks but I will soon thanks to the Patch. I learned there 's a nice little place there for breakfast and now I'm learning about Wally's barber shop. Barber and beauty shops were the place to hang out for good conversation. As a young person growing up, these were the places to go to hear and learn. They were great. I accompanied many a boyfriend to the barber shop while they got their hair cut and trimmed. Never have I laughed so much to hear the old guys tell the young guys a thing or two about life. Great oral histories. Great times. Great memories.

ed meyers

7:41 pm on Friday, November 12, 2010

I like Wally's wall calendar on the "bottom" right ..... sorry Carrie!

lonnie fehr

12:50 pm on Tuesday, January 25, 2011

lol didnt notice wall calender , just the mounted deer head on wall .

ed meyers

7:45 pm on Friday, November 12, 2010

I understand it's a serious story, butt the Patch photo did include the calendar shot.

Dan Abendschein

8:07 pm on Friday, November 12, 2010

Haha... good eye Ed! I didn't see that before.

Steve Lamb

6:20 am on Saturday, November 13, 2010

Uh well the Altadena Sheriffs Captain has declared in public that Wallys is a "known Gang hang out" how exactly is that NOT targeting? There was testamony in the Public Meeting a couple of Thursdays ago that the LACSD stops people going in and out of the shop and threatens them with possible arrest if the shop is raided, how is that not targeting? The Captain never denied in public that his officers engaged in this behavior.

Lisa Hastings

8:35 am on Saturday, November 13, 2010

I have do not have all of the facts about the Sheriff allegedly targeting businesses, so I do not have an opinion on that. However, the quote in the article from the employee of the barber shop itself, Mathis Ward ("I'm sure some customers are gang members"), in and of itself tarnishes that business's reputation.