CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN DIEGO : 2 Officers Acquitted of Kidnap, Robbery

Two police officers have been acquitted of felony charges of kidnaping and robbing a group of illegal aliens after a Superior Court jury concluded that the patrolmen were merely following a time-worn police practice of removing undesirable transients from downtown streets. The verdicts, reached after two days of jury deliberations, brought to an end the nine-month criminal case against Officers Lloyd J. Hoff Jr. and Richard P. Schaaf, who were accused of twice rounding up illegal aliens, driving them to a deserted area away from downtown and robbing them of their cash. Had they been convicted, the two officers could have been sent to prison for life. Their careers remain in jeopardy, however, because of a pending administrative investigation.