$505,000 in 5 Claims Against Deputies OKd

The Los Angeles County Claims Board on Monday approved payment of $505,000 to settle five lawsuits against the Sheriff’s Department, including four where deputies were accused of using excessive force during arrests.

The board approved a $275,000 payment to a South Whittier man who, doctors say, walks with a cane and suffers from dizziness because he was struck on the head by deputies during his 1985 arrest for drug possession. The settlement must be approved by the Board of Supervisors because of its size.

In three other settlements, the board awarded $60,000 to a mentally handicapped Lennox man who was seriously injured when he fled from deputies who thought he was acting suspiciously; $60,000 to two men who claim they were beaten unnecessarily outside a South Whittier bar, and $80,000 to a Pico Rivera couple and their guests at a 1988 wedding reception, which ended in a melee when deputies chased a man through the party.

The fifth settlement--a $30,000 award--was to a Glendale woman who was kept at county-run Sybil Brand Institute for 22 days without being charged with a crime.