Pomona Mayor Will Apologize to Student

Pomona Mayor Donna Smith agreed Wednesday to pay $7,500 and apologize to a Cal Poly Pomona student for an incident two years ago in which she allegedly used a shotgun to threaten the student after he parked his car in front of her house.

The settlement between Smith and Eric Johnson was reached two weeks before a hearing on a civil suit Johnson filed against Smith last year alleging false imprisonment, battery, infliction of emotional distress and negligence.

Johnson, who is black, said Smith shouted obscenities and accused him of buying drugs when he dropped a friend off to visit one of Smith’s neighbors on Aug. 15, 1987.

Johnson filed a complaint with the NAACP charging Smith with stereotyping him because of his race.

Smith said Thursday she wants to “put (the case) behind me and move on with my life.”

Johnson, who is entering his fourth year at Cal Poly, said he was satisfied and “just wanted my reputation cleared and things rectified. I understand (Smith) is really concerned about the drug problem in Pomona just like I am, but she just went a little overboard.”