Irvine Will Pay $250,000 in Kidney Case

The City of Irvine has agreed to pay approximately $250,000 to the family of a young autistic man whose kidney was removed after Irvine police officers struggled with him on his front lawn.

Exact terms of the settlement, agreed to in early February, were not disclosed, and at the request of the city attorney the document has been sealed by Orange County court Commissioner Greer Stroud.

But sources familiar with the settlement resulting from the damages lawsuit said that the city would pay the family of Guido Rodriguez Jr. $100,000 of the amount from its litigation account and the insurers would pay the rest in a lump sum.

‘It Was Fair’

“I felt it was fair,” said Guido Rodriguez Sr., the young man’s father, who declined to confirm the figure. “It’s not what I wanted, but it saves a lot of time and aggravation.”

City officials refused to discuss the settlement.

On April 21, 1985, Guido, then 18, was riding his bicycle near his home in Irvine. A patrol officer, Shari Lohman, saw him from her car and later said his “suspicious actions” caused her to approach him. Guido, who had a mental age of about 4, fled on his bicycle and then on foot, leading Lohman to suspect that the bicycle may have been stolen. She radioed for assistance, saying Guido was “possibly on drugs.”

Struggled on Lawn

Two other officers caught up with Guido in his garage, as he was screaming for his mother. While Guido’s mother shouted to the officers that her son was retarded and couldn’t understand them, one of the officers, Sgt. Jim Louder, grappled with Guido on the front lawn, subdued him and took him into custody.

After Guido’s father arrived and repeated his wife’s explanation, the youth was released at the scene.

Three days later, after Guido noticed blood in his urine--which his parents said had never happened before--his kidney was removed.

An investigation by the Orange County district attorney’s office exonerated Louder, Lohman and the third officer, David Stoermer. The report also cited medical evidence that Guido’s kidney was enlarged from “a lifelong condition resulting from a birth defect.”

The Rodriguez family disputed the report.