Irvine to Probe Seizure of Youth : Autism Victim, 18, Lost Kidney After Tussle With Officers

The City of Irvine announced Friday that it is “initiating a thorough investigation” of the incident in which an 18-year-old autistic youth was chased and handcuffed by police officers last Sunday and which the parents of Guido Rodriguez Jr. allege resulted in the loss of their son’s kidney two days later.

In a brief press release prepared by Paul Brady Jr., assistant city manager, the city took note of the $10-million claim filed Thursday by the Rodriguez family and said that “the allegations raised in the claim have been reviewed.” According to Brady’s statement, “until that investigation is completed, the City of Irvine will not have any further comment.”

According to the claim, Rodriguez “was legally and lawfully riding his bicycle” in a residential area when he was chased by car and on foot by Officer Shari Lohman. At the Rodriguez home, the claim alleged, Sgt. Jim Lowder treated Guido in a brutal fashion in the presence of his mother and “continued with anger and rage to yell orders to the mentally retarded, autistic child, which he could not understand.”

Also cited in the claim, along with the City of Irvine, the Irvine Police Department, Lohman and Lowder, was Officer David Stoermer, who assisted Lowder in handcuffing the youth. Lowder told Rodriguez that he was under arrest but released him later at the scene.

In her incident report, Lohman said she believed Rodriguez “was possibly on drugs” and “felt he possibly had just stolen the bicycle.” In his statement, Lowder said that when he later approached the youth, Rodriguez ran away and “continued to yell statements that were incoherent and unintelligible to me.”

At a press conference Friday, held at Beverly Hospital, the Rodriguezes’ attorney, Richard Peterson, charged that Sgt. Lowder had administered “instant justice” on the youth, “after having convicted the boy in his own mind of totally erroneous things,” in particular of being on drugs, and that he “further felt in his mind that the boy was intentionally disobedient and rebellious.”

Guido Rodriguez appeared alert but somewhat fearful of the media people who came into his room in small groups. The youth seems to be enjoying some of the attention he has been receiving from the hospital staff. His mother said, “He’s got all the nurses in his pocket.”

The nature of autism--a developmental, neurological disorder that impairs communication and social skills--sometimes makes interactions with law enforcement officials difficult, experts say, particularly in those autistic people referred to as “higher-function,” or better able to get out in the world.

Officers may expect those afflicted with autism to act in an appropriate fashion, said Mary Preble, president of one of two area chapters of the National Society for Children and Adults With Autism, “because our people look so normal and act so normal.”

Like Guido Rodriguez Jr., Preble said, some autistic people have difficulty responding verbally and, also like the youth, “they don’t like being touched, they take off running.” Autism, she said, “is definitely something that police departments should be aware of.”

An incident like Sunday’s, said Ken Laureys, of the society’s national office in Washington, “does, from time to time, happen. It might happen more often than we think.” Laureys said that it did not surprise him that police might think an autistic individual might be drunk or on drugs, “especially to an officer or an authority figure with a high opinion of himself.”

Problems of Autism

For example, Laureys said, some autistic people are echolalic, repeating everything that is said to them, word-for-word. Others demonstrate “inappropriate laughing and giggling,” he said. They may be hyperactive, flapping their arms, or extremely passive, rocking back and forth.

Similar problems exist for those suffering from aphasia, brain damage that results in a loss of speech and language comprehension, according to Jules Getlin, a Los Angeles speech pathologist. “When an aphasic is in an emotional state he may not be able to express himself,” Getlin said, and may flee from the police. Officers giving chase under such circumstances “don’t perceive that the person they are pursuing is in greater danger than they are,” he said.

One alternative for parents of autistic children living at home, or those with any emotional disability, was suggested by Nancy Harris, executive director of the Orange County Mental Health Assn. and herself the mother of a brain-injured child. At the recommendation of the staff of St. Jude Hospital, where her son was treated, she notified local police of his condition when he returned home.

“Two officers came to the house,” she said, “and I found them exceedingly understanding and extremely helpful. It might help people to anticipate situations and help the police to do their job. There is a responsibility to the community in cases like this.”