Ex-Officer’s View of Clash

I was dismayed to read Hugo Martin’s article (July 15) in which I am accused of the illegal and immoral act of using “forcible brutality” upon Luis Luna.

On the day in question, I was driving a marked Oxnard police unit in a shopping center parking lot after providing assistance to the Port Hueneme Police Department nearby. Mr. Luna waved at me in a manner suggesting he wanted me to stop. I asked Mr. Luna if he and his family were all right and he responded by telling me I was in Port Hueneme and I had “the wrong people.” Mr. Luna was obviously intoxicated as he stood near my car window and repeatedly told me in a loud, angry tone, that I was in the wrong city. An unidentified man who was with Mr. Luna approached us and said that Mr. Luna had hit him. I could not tell if he was serious or not.

As I was getting out of my car, Mr. Luna lunged forward and pushed the driver’s door closed, hitting me with it. I pushed the door open while Mr. Luna tried to hold it closed, and got out. Mr. Luna again began yelling that I “had the wrong people” and walked toward me, ignoring my orders to stay away from me. He was within a foot of me when I placed my hand on his chest and pushed him away. Mr. Luna’s companion approached me in the same way and was also pushed away. Fearing for my safety, I removed my baton from it’s ring and radioed for help. I did not strike Mr. Luna (or his friend) with my baton, as he claims.

When officers Vendt and Jimenez arrived, I told Mr. Luna he was under arrest for public intoxication and battery on me. As I handcuffed Mr. Luna, he began to resist my efforts, and Officer Jimenez and I struggled with him for several moments. All three of us fell to the ground during the struggle. This is in contrast to Mr. Luna’s account of having his face “slammed against the pavement.”

When he was in custody, Mr. Luna told me that the struggle had aggravated a previously existing back injury. This is not mentioned in the article, which implies I injured him.

The Oxnard Police Department investigated this incident and concluded that officers Vendt and Jimenez and I were innocent of any wrongdoing.

The article is accurate in stating that Mr. Luna failed to file his claim against the city within the statutory period. I suspect this is a result of his embarrassment over his behavior. I’m confident he would have filed his claim in a timely manner if he truly believed he had been treated wrongly. Instead, he used The Times as a method of telling his twisted version of events without regard for the truth.

PETER J. RUGGIERO

Oxnard

Ruggiero is a former officer in the Oxnard Police Department.