Pubdate: Wed, 11 August 1999
Source: Tribune, The  (CA)
Copyright: 1999 San Luis Obispo County Newspapers
Contact:  P.O. Box 112, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406-0112
Website: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
Author: June Rich, The Tribune

POLICE SEARCH CHIEF PROBATION OFFICER'S HOME

Police investigators searched the home of the county's chief probation
officer Thursday, confiscating property of a young man temporarily living
there for evidence related to a recent stabbing, police said.

Police would not specity if the 19-year-old living with Chief Probation
Officer John Lum was suspected of witnessing or partaking in the stabbing,
which occurred at Taco Bell in San Luis Obispo on July 26.

Knives and marijuana were recovered during the search of Lum's Los Osos home.

The search focused on the living area of a 19-year-old man the Lums took in
almost a year ago. Lum did not wish to release the name of the man, but said
that police did seize some of the young man's clothing, shoes, personal
identification, sketches and several knives.

Police said they also found a small amount of marijuana in the young man's
trash can but would not specify how much marijuana they found or what
charges might result in relation to the drugs.

Lum said he did not know if the man smoked marijuana while staying at the
Lum residence. After the search, Lum said the young man apologized for the
search, and told Lum htat he wasn't involved in the stabbing.

"This is very painful. It's personally painful to me. It's painful as a
husband, and as a parent," said Lum, the father of five daughters. "It's
painful as the chief probation officer. It's very embarrassing.

"Our family reaches out to help people. Clearly this situation will force us
to re-examine what we can do, and what we should do."

Lum said his family took the man in when he moved to San Luis Obispo last
September.

According to Lum, the man works full time and was planning to enter Cuesat
College in the fall.

Lum said the man moved out the day the search was executed, though no
arrests were made.

According to police reports, a 17-year-old Grover Beach boy was kicked,
punched and stabbed by a group of teen-agers outside Taco Bell sometime
after midnight on July 26. The boy was called over to a group of teens, who
beat him and forced him to the ground. Someone stabbed the boy in the back
and torso at least twice during the fights.

Police said at least 100 teen-agers were present outside the Taco Bell when
the stabbing took place.

Investigators said the teen-agers gathered at Taco Bell after attending
"Minor Madness Night" at the Graduate, a bar on Industrial Way. According to
the police, witnesses said a similar fight occurred the previous Sunday
night at the same location.  Witnesses told police no on called police after
the first fight because no major injuries resulted.

Police said the fights appeared to be part of an ongoing conflict between
teens in the Five Cities and Los Osos.

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