Keeper of evidence locker hands over keys

Deepa Bharath

Bob Bork has seen a lot in the two decades he’s spent looking after

the Costa Mesa Police Department’s property room.

He’s seen them all.

Blood-stained clothes, bones, a freezer that housed a woman’s

corpse for years, tombstones -- even a medieval ball and chain.

Bork will retire Monday after serving the department for 24 years.

A week from now, he’ll drive cross-country with his wife, Bonnie, to

his new home in a Florida country club where he hopes to spend the

rest of his life pursuing his passion -- golf.

On Thursday, after a retirement party and going-away luncheon, it

was all beginning to sink in for Bork.

“I’ve done this a long time,” he said, looking up at the colorful

balloons bobbing around his office. “It’s obviously emotional for me

to give it up. But it’s time for me to move on. I’m ready.”

Bork is originally from Long Island, N.Y. He still speaks with a

thick New York accent, which he laughs about.

“My first day on the job here, I made an announcement on the PA

system,” he said. “Two seconds later, my phone rings and people are

asking me, ‘What the hell did you just say?’ People still give me a

hard time about it.”

Bork worked as a funeral home director back East. But when he

moved to California in 1977, he couldn’t practice here because his

license was not valid in this state. He became a security officer at

South Coast Plaza. In 1979, he applied for a job as a jail custodian

in Costa Mesa.

Within three years, he was promoted to property officer. Ever

since, he has taken responsibility for thousands of pieces of

evidence that have been brought in to the department’s basement year

after year. Over the years, Bork rose higher in the ranks and earned

the title of sergeant after former Chief Dave Snowden started giving

the rank to department supervisors who were not sworn officers.

Bork considers his “exceptional team” his biggest accomplishment.

“Over the years, I’ve been able to put together a great team of

employees in this department,” he said.

Their job is challenging, Bork said.

“Every month, we get at least 1,000 pieces of evidence that come

in,” he said. “Our job is to accept, secure and safeguard all that

evidence and then release it when it’s needed in court during the

trial.”

Two years ago, the department bought two 24-by-12-foot freezers to

store biohazardous evidence.

“One of those freezers is full, and the other one is a quarter of

the way full,” he said.

Bork’s job includes disposing of things as well. Until eight years

ago, Bork used to hold the department’s auctions.

“I remember getting on top of a table with a microphone in our

yard and auctioning off bicycles for 25 cents,” he said. “It was fun

and even heart-warming to see the look on a kid’s face when he bought

a bike for a quarter. But it got to be too much, and we had to hand

it over to a professional auction company.”

Still, bloody clothes and grisly body parts can have “an effect”

on the person handling them, Bork said.

“When you look at the bloody clothes drying in a room, you wonder

what must have ... happened,” he said. “I look at the freezer in the

bike room, and I wonder what a horrible time Denise Huber went

through.”

23-year-old Denise Huber of Newport Beach was murdered by John

Famalaro in 1991. Huber’s body was found three years later in Arizona

in a freezer kept in Famalaro’s truck. Famalaro now sits on death

row.

“We have to keep the freezer here till he’s executed, and that

could be a while,” Bork said.

Space is always a major challenge for a property officer.

“Our stuff is all spread out in the building in different rooms,”

he said. “We have to keep drugs and firearms separate from the other

evidence.”

But Bork won’t have to worry about selling bikes or clearing out

junk any more.

On Thursday, he looked at a large state flag that hung behind his

desk, autographed by many of his colleagues.

“I’m going to hang this flag in my garage,” he said. “It will

bring back memories about all the wonderful people I worked with.”

Bork has been a “great boss” and an “understanding friend,” said

property officer Karl Verhoef, who started off as a cadet in the

department 20 years ago under Bork.

“He was my training officer,” he said. “He understands the job. He

shows new employees how everything is done. And above all, he’s a

great friend. I’m going to miss him.”

Lt. Karl Schuler worked with Bork for three years.

“He always wanted to make sure things were done right,” Schuler

said. “It was a pleasure working with him.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].