San Diego : Policeman Bitten at Rally Sues Gay; Countersuit Filed

San Diego Police Agent Raymond Shay has filed a $500,000 personal injury suit against a homosexual man who bit him during last year’s Lesbian/Gay Pride Parade in Balboa Park.

The suit stems from the arrest of Brian Barlow, 40, on June 7, 1986, after he squirted water at a group of anti-gay demonstrators. During the arrest, Barlow allegedly bit Shay on the hand and reserve patrolman George Ground on the shoulder. Both bites drew blood.

Also charged in the suit filed Monday in Superior Court are parade sponsor San Diego Lambda Pride Inc., its chairman, Douglas Moore, and the San Francisco Gay Pride Marching Band and Twirling Corps. Barlow was the band leader.

Barlow, an admitted homosexual, is charged with two counts of battery. Prosecutors had hoped to use the results of a blood test five weeks after the incident to raise the charges to attempted murder.

In May, the state Supreme Court agreed with a lower court ruling that authorities couldn’t release test blood samples taken from Barlow for the AIDS antibodies without his consent.

Shay’s suit, filed by San Diego attorney James Gattey, charges Barlow with knowing he was a member of a group at risk of being exposed to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a fatal disease that predominantly strikes homosexuals. It says Barlow should have known that his saliva could come in contact with Shay’s blood through an open wound.

The suit accuses the parade sponsors of failing to take steps to control parade participants.

Tests on Shay’s blood for the AIDS antibodies have been negative, Gattey said.

After Barlow bit the officers, he was asked by police whether he had AIDS and he replied: “You’d better take it that I’ve got AIDS for the officers’ sake.”

Meanwhile, Barlow has joined the legal wrangling by filing a $2.2-million suit against seven police officers and the City of San Diego.

The suit, filed Friday in Superior Court, alleges that the officers deprived Barlow of his civil rights when they arrested him and forcibly took blood from him so they could test him for AIDS antibodies.

Barlow claims he was “assaulted, battered, punched, shoved, pushed (and) verbally abused” during the incident.

The suit charges the city with negligent supervision of the officers, saying the city should have known about citizen complaints against the officers for excessive force.

Also named in the suit besides Shay and Ground are officers identified only as L.O. Oberlies, J. Arthur, DeLong, A. Tucker and Robert Evan.

This year’s Gay/Lesbian Pride Parade will be held Saturday. Mayor Maureen O’Connor will march with the San Diego AIDS Project, a community outreach group, to fulfill a campaign promise to the gay community, mayoral spokesman Paul Downey said Monday.