Police Brutality Claim

A $250,000 police brutality claim has been filed on behalf of two Leuzinger High School students who said they were victims of assault and false arrest by two police officers, Dennis Barberic and David Mains. Attorney George V. Denny III, who filed the claim against the city on Thursday, said this is the latest in a series of incidents of brutality complaints by members of the Police Department. The action claims that Barberic and Mains assaulted Jonas E. Woodring, 15, and Richard C. Mendez, 16, at a football game at Hawthorne High School. According to the claim, the officers questioned the boys about their skull rings and accused them of drug use and gang membership. At one point, one of the boys was held at gunpoint, Denny said.