The wrong guy

Re “Retired chef caught up in massive gang sweep,” May 26

Ramon Huerta has suffered an egregious injustice at the hands of the authorities in their war against drug gangs.

The intelligence -- or we should say, the stupidity -- behind the search was sloppy. It apparently was the wrong Ramon Huerta. Many people here share the same commonly occurring names. Why such carelessness? Did the hoped-for publicity of a successfully executed drug raid give extra energy to the decision to strike first and ask questions later?

We Americans have become masters of armed police and military assault, but our too-frequent slipshod intelligence makes us look like fools, whether in the Middle East or here on the home front.

Peter Knoles

Los Olivos

Congratulations for an outstanding story with a wonderful conclusion -- the release of Ramon Huerta.

How these false arrests occur is almost impossible to accept in this so-called freedom-loving land of ours. Thank heavens we will soon have a Supreme Court jurist of Latino ethnicity who understands how errant federal bureaucrats can misbehave.

Richard J. Castro

San Diego

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Your reporter’s account of the wrongful arrest of retired chef Ramon Huerta is yet another example of why The Times -- and reporters who know their beats -- matter in this city.

Huerta’s daughter, Marianne, contacted the right person.

Damiana Chavez

Los Angeles

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The story of the mistaken arrest of a retired chef is another example of your fine work in helping correct injustices.

Apparently this 64-year-old man was released because his family called The Times and a reporter then asked federal authorities if they had made a terrible mistake.

We continue to buy The Times every day; the Internet does not offer this service.

Peter Cummings

Bishop