Sheriff, Residents Sharply Disagree on Melee at Party

Sheriff Sherman Block stood behind his deputies Monday, saying a review of evidence, including a home video of part of the incident, showed that they exercised “great restraint” in breaking up a Cerritos bridal shower where guests said they were beaten by deputies.

Block’s account of events in the suburban neighborhood conflicted with that of members of the Arthur Dole family, who held a news conference of their own at their Noran Avenue home.

Both sides displayed their wounded.

Block had color photos of some of the 10 deputies who, he said, were cut and battered as repeated attempts to end the party peacefully were thwarted by party-goers who first hurled insults at deputies and later threw chunks of rock and some beer bottles. Block displayed six large rocks, three damaged police helmets, three beer bottles, a beer can and a galvanized steel ice tub that he said were thrown at deputies.

He downplayed the importance of the home video, but acknowledged that it did show “one brief part where it appears that a deputy used his baton three times on two different people.” Those who were hit already were on the ground.

Tape Quality Poor

“It would be unusual to use a baton if they were handcuffed,” Block said, but the quality of the tape was too poor to determine if the man was restrained.

“What I saw on that tape is, considering the magnitude of the situation . . ., the deputies acted in a very orderly fashion, they were under control,” Block said. He blamed David Dole, 28, for inciting others to disobey the officers and said David’s father, Arthur, refused to break up the party. “Based on the evidence of deadly force used . . . against the deputies, I think the entire incident was handled with great restraint,” Block said.

Three members of the Dole family, Arthur, 60, and two of his daughters, Olanda, 23, and Emily, 31, showed injuries of their own to reporters. They said the cuts and bruises stemmed from being struck by deputies. David Dole is hospitalized and under arrest.

Arthur Dole said he was kicked by deputies and when he asked them to loosen handcuffs that were cutting into his wrists, a deputy said, “ ‘Shut up,’ and kicked me again. He said ‘You’re Samoan . . . you think you’re so big, and I can knock you out anytime.’ ”

Brother Talked to Deputies

Emily, a member of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW), known to television audiences at Mt. Fiji, said brother David tried to argue deputies out of entering the house, telling them it was a bridal shower for a sister, Melinda.

“We’re going in there and (obscenity) it up,” Emily said the deputy replied.

The family has strongly denied provoking officers, or throwing any rocks, bottles or other debris, insisting it was the deputies who instigated any fighting. Neighbors who came out to watch also denied seeing any rocks or bottles thrown.

In the aftermath of the Saturday night melee, 34 men and women were arrested. Two of the men were charged with felonies, and the rest with lesser charges of rioting and unlawful assembly.

Both sides generally agree that when a patrol car first went into the suburban neighborhood about 9:30 p.m. and asked the party-goers to keep the noise level down, they complied. And on a second pass a short time later, Block and family members concur that the party was progressing peaceably.

From there, the accounts diverge wildly.

Block said more than 100 party-goers were present.

According to the Doles, there were only 35 or 40.

Block said a maximum of 50 officers from three jurisdictions, Lakewood sheriff’s station, Norwalk sheriff’s station and the Downey Police Department, were on the scene at the height of action.

Those attending the party and neighbors estimated there were 100 officers.

Neither side can agree on the role of Sky Knight, a patrol helicopter maintained by the cities of Lakewood and Cerritos. The helicopter is flown by a private pilot but carries a sheriff’s deputy who is in communication with the ground.

Block said the first order to disperse was given over loudspeakers from the helicopter. The order was greeted with obscene gestures and ignored, he said.

Family members and irate neighbors said Saturday night that the helicopter inexplicably hovered over the party and surrounding homes, its loud engine and brilliant search light acting as an irritant, for a long time before the final encounter. Two neighbors, who asked that their names not be used because they did not want to anger the Sheriff’s Department, said officers asked them after the melee if they had heard the chopper’s loudspeaker order the party to disband. The neighbors said they never heard such an order.

Some party guests also said they never heard any commands from the helicopter. Melinda Dole said she did hear words, including one that sounded like “code,” but that the announcement was too indistinct to be understood.

Block said patrol cars approached the house for the third time after a citizen telephoned a report at 10:18 p.m. of “street fighting with sticks and knives.” Family and neighbors insisted there never was any such fighting. (No tape recording exists of the emergency telephone calls, Block said, because the recording equipment had been out of order since Friday.)

Twice more, Block said, the order to disperse was given, this time over the patrol car’s speaker system.

The about 15 deputies pulled back at one point to await reinforcements. When they arrived, everyone in the house was ordered to come out, Block said. Instead, he said, there was more verbal abuse of the deputies.

As the officers formed a line to move on the house, Block said the rock and bottle throwing began.