Latino Family Charges Police With Brutality

San Diego Catholic Diocese officials and a Latino community group are demanding an investigation by city officials after a bloody police confrontation with a Latino family described by their Linda Vista neighbors as “quiet, churchgoing people.”

Senior San Diego police officers, who acknowledge that their information on the incident is “very sketchy,” said Friday that they will launch an internal probe of the Jan. 16 fracas, which sent two members of the family to the hospital and outraged neighbors who witnessed the melee.

The incident began at 11:30 p.m. when an officer from the department’s Western Division arrived at the Burton Street home of Antonio Pena, 64. It ended at County Jail, where Pena’s son, Manuel, 29, was issued a misdemeanor citation, while the father and another son, Francisco, 32, were taken by police to Sharp Memorial Hospital. Hospital officials said the men were released after treatment for broken noses, numerous cuts and bruises.

According to Francisco, he and Manuel had returned home after attending a concert at the Sports Arena. Two blocks from home, the pair noticed a patrol car behind them, Francisco said. A police report on the incident says that the officer pursued the Pena car with the police car lights flashing. But the Penas and Willie Mae Weinperl, a neighbor who witnessed the incident, say that the flashing did not begin until after the officer stopped across the street from the Pena home.

“We were already on the porch and walking toward the door when a policeman approached us and said, ‘Come here.’ My brother went inside the house, and I stayed outside to talk to the policeman,” Francisco said. “He said, ‘I just want to talk to you guys.’ I asked him what did we do wrong. But he never answered. He just kept saying that he wanted to talk to us. As far as we could tell, we hadn’t done anything wrong.”

According to Francisco, another officer appeared suddenly and hit him in the face with a flashlight.

Cmdr. Keith Enerson, spokesman for the San Diego Police Department, said he had no reason to believe that a flashlight was used to strike the man. He said regulations prohibit officers from using a flashlight as a weapon.

The police report of the incident, said Enerson, is “very sketchy,” but says that the fight was started by Francisco and Manuel, who began pushing and shoving the officers. The Penas say that Manuel never appeared in the garage, where the fight took place, and was arrested inside the house.

Pena said that he and his wife were awakened by the confrontation and went to the garage to investigate. Antonio, who speaks limited English, said that he asked the officers, “What’s happening,” but was repeatedly told by the officers to “shut up.”

“I tried to ask them what they wanted with my sons. As their father, I thought I had a right to know why they were after my sons. But every time I tried to question them they told me to shut up. They never told me why they wanted to arrest my sons,” said Antonio.

Moments later, the police stop turned into a melee, as the officer who stopped the brothers was joined by at least nine other patrolmen.

“Things happened very fast then. The police knocked me and my son down and handcuffed us. I kept asking them what they wanted but every time I asked, one of them would kick me in the face. While they were beating me, other officers were kicking Francisco and beating him with batons,” said the father.

Rogelio, 15, a student at University of San Diego High School, said he walked out of his bedroom to the garage in time to see several officers beating his father and brother, both of whom were on the ground and had their hands cuffed behind their backs.

“It was like an assembly line. Each officer who walked by my dad would kick him in the face as he walked by,” the youth said.

“One policeman took me and sat me down on the chair and told me, ‘Don’t move, kid, or I’ll take you to juvy (Juvenile Hall).’ My dad was laying by my feet. He kept asking the officers why they were hitting him but every time he opened his mouth they would kick him,” Rogelio said.

Antonio Pena said he heard Rogelio yelling: “Dad, don’t talk anymore so they won’t hit you!”

While Antonio and Francisco were being overpowered by police in the garage, other officers went inside the house to arrest Manuel, said the mother, Teresa, 57.

“Manuel told the officers that they couldn’t come in the house unless they had legal papers,” said Rogelio. “But one policeman told him, ‘I can do whatever the hell I want.’ ”

The incident, which police and family members say lasted about 30 minutes, brought several neighbors outside. The neighbors assailed the police handling of the incident.

“I’ve known the Penas since I was 6 years old,” said Greg Wilson, 32. “They’re real quiet, church-going people who don’t bother anybody. Everyone in the neighborhood respects them. They are just nice, gentle folks. It seems to me that there was some abuse of authority by police.”

Weinperl, who lives across the street and, like the Penas, is a parishioner at the nearby Holy Family Church, agreed.

“Tony and Teresa never bother anybody. This man and his family have a good reputation on this street. When I saw them take Tony, handcuffed and all, to a police car, I told my husband, ‘My God, they’ve got Tony in the car.’ I never thought I would ever see that,” said Weinperl.

Weinperl said that after the bloody fight ended, she saw an officer lead Manuel to a patrol car.

“The boy had his hands cuffed behind his back,” Weinperl said. “The officer slammed his head on the hood of the car before putting the boy in the car.”

Police spokesman Enerson said Friday the police report offers a different version of the incident. According to police, an officer had followed Francisco and Manuel home because he suspected Manuel of drunk driving. Police said that a bloody confrontation ensued when the three Penas resisted police efforts to arrest Manuel. After the fight, the father and two sons were taken into custody, given misdemeanor citations and released.

Francisco acknowledged that he and his brother each drank two beers at a concert earlier in the evening. But he denied that either was drunk. Francisco also volunteered that he and Manuel, who was driving the car, have had previous run-ins with police. But he insisted that the Jan. 16 incident was provoked by police.

According to Francisco, he was arrested in 1982 and 1985 for drunk driving and had his license suspended for a year following his last arrest. Manuel, he said, was arrested once for disturbing the peace but the charges against him were dropped.

“I’m telling you this because my brother and I have nothing to hide. We weren’t doing anything wrong that night. They just began hitting us for no reason,” said Francisco.

The Penas and neighbors who witnessed the melee say that approximately 10 officers who eventually arrived at the scene to back up the first officer overreacted and used excessive force when they arrested the three men.

In the confusion surrounding the fracas, one officer left his baton behind, which the family found three days later. A family member who returned the baton produced a police receipt acknowledging acceptance of the missing weapon.

Despite the large police contingent at the scene and subsequent hospital treatment for the two men, Western Division Capt. Richard Toneck--who commands the officers involved--said the incident was described to him as “routine police work.” He said he had only oral descriptions of the fight and had not seen a formal police report. Several police officials said they did not learn of the fight until late last week, when the Penas sought the advice of attorneys who then complained to the department about the officers.

“I wish that I could say that all of our reports are real good. But I just don’t have a lot of information about this incident,” Enerson said Friday.

Antonio Pena charged that during the scuffle he and Francisco were kicked and beaten with batons by police while both men were handcuffed and laying on the garage floor. Toneck downplayed the injuries suffered by the Penas. “It doesn’t surprise me if in a scuffle that people will suffer some bruises,” said Toneck.

Enerson said that the reports, which were written by Officers Timothy Carr and James Gordon, did not mention how “they (Penas) suffered any injuries.”

The incident will be investigated by the department’s internal affairs unit, Enerson said. Neither Carr nor Gordon could be reached for comment Friday.

Manuel Pena, who suffered minor injuries, was taken to County Jail and booked on misdemeanor charges of drunk driving and resisting arrest and released. Police said that Antonio and Francisco Pena also were given misdemeanor citations for assaulting an officer but were not booked.

Sister Dina Marie Garcia, who teaches at the Holy Family school, said that Auxiliary Bishop Gilberto Chavez urged the parents to take legal action against the police. The Penas, who have lived in their home for 23 years, are active members of Holy Family parish and personal friends of the bishop.

A petition denouncing the beatings and written by Sister Garcia has been signed by about 400 persons and will be forwarded to the mayor and City Council this week. Sister Garcia said that the petition also asks Mayor Maureen O’Connor and City Manager John Lockwood to launch an investigation of the incident.

More than a week after the fracas, Antonio and Francisco were still displaying the aftermath of the beatings. Francisco said that his nose was broken by an officer who hit him repeatedly with a flashlight. Antonio has two black eyes and bruises on his face that he said resulted from several kicks delivered by officers.

Teresa Pena has put her husband and son’s bloody clothing in plastic bags. The family has also preserved the blood-stained carpets that were on the garage floor. A family member also took color photographs of the three men after they were released from police custody.

“This case is eventually going to go to trial. We’re not going to sit back and say ‘Thank God it’s over’ and forget about it. We’re saving the clothes, photos and carpets to show them to a jury, so people can see what the police did to my family,” said Mrs. Pena.

The Coalition for Law and Justice, a Latino community rights group, is helping the family file a complaint with the department against the officers. Coalition director Roberto Martinez said that the group has already talked to Deputy Police Chief Manuel Guaderrama and demanded that the department investigate the incident.

“Several of us are meeting with Chief Guaderrama on Tuesday to discuss the beating. There are a couple of other incidents involving Chicanos who were beaten by police officers that we are going to bring up. But the Pena case is a horrendous example of police abuse. It’s like we have two different police departments.

“A few weeks ago the department met with us in Barrio Sherman and told us how they wanted to work with the Chicano community to better relations between the community and police. Then this incident happens. Apparently they haven’t learned anything from the Sagon Penn case. I told Guaderrama that we’re taking the gloves off on this one. I mean, they beat up a family, not just one person, but an entire family,” said Martinez.

Guaderrama was unavailable for comment.

But Weinperl, who has known the Penas for 23 years, said that after witnessing the bloody fight, she has lost trust in the police.

“I tell you. They went about it altogether wrong,” she said. “I don’t understand it. They are supposed to help people, not hurt them. I’d be afraid to call the police now. I’m afraid they’d come here and kill me.”