Local News in Brief : Girl Files $25,000 Suit

A Hawthorne girl has filed suit in Torrance Municipal Court seeking $25,000 in damages from Torrance police claiming that she was improperly arrested for participating in a brawl at a youth soccer game and then denied a court hearing.

Annette Navarez, 16, was arrested for battery in November, 1986, three weeks after a fight at the end of a division playoff soccer game between the South Torrance Surfers and the Hawthorne Kamikazers. Her attorney Nathan Greitzer claims Navarez was denied her civil rights because she was never brought into Juvenile Court for a hearing.

Sgt. Steve Gilliam, internal affairs investigator with the Torrance Police Department, said Navarez was arrested based on statements by witnesses who said she started the fight. He said she was not brought before a magistrate because she was released into her mother’s custody immediately after the arrest and police never initiated Juvenile Court proceedings against Navarez. He said that she was referred to a department counselor but refused to participate. The Torrance City Council earlier rejected a claim for $50,000 filed in the incident, Greizer said.