Homeless Tell Judge They Were Chained After Litter Arrests

In poignant and often disquieting testimony, three homeless people described to a Municipal Court judge Wednesday how they were arrested during last year’s police roundups at the Civic Center after they allegedly threw away cigarette butts, a Municipal Code violation that police say they normally ignore.

Then they were taken to a nearby stadium and chained to benches. “I felt humiliated and degraded,” Sharen Valentine said.

Valentine, gaunt and gray at 51, had lived at the Civic Center for about a year when she was arrested. She was cited for littering after she allegedly threw a cigarette butt to the ground.

But in an interview later, Valentine said she would never throw away cigarette butts, which the homeless call “snipes.”

“I pick up snipes, I never throw them away,” said Valentine, showing off a bagful of butts. “It’s too expensive to buy whole cigarettes.”

The testimonies were the first chance for the homeless to tell Judge B. Tam Nomoto what happened to them when they were arrested in the August roundups, which police had dubbed “Operation Civic Center.” Attorneys for the homeless have labeled the roundups Littergate, because most of those arrested were cited for littering.

The attorneys for the homeless filed a motion in January to dismiss the charges. Nomoto has been listening to testimony to determine whether the 22 homeless defendants should be tried for minor infractions stemming from the roundups.

Their attorneys say the homeless were targeted for selective prosecution by police. Police say they were trying to reduce crime in the area.

Valentine told the court that she was talking to friends at the Civic Center on Aug. 15 when she was stopped by a police officer who wanted identification. When she could provide only an outdated identification card, the officer drove her to Santa Ana Municipal Stadium at 6th and Flower streets and wrote the number 27 on her arm.

Valentine said she was then chained to a bench along with other homeless people.

When Deputy Dist. Atty. Douglas D. Brannan questioned Valentine’s ability to recognize other homeless, she told the court that it is not hard to distinguish those who have a home from those who do not.

“Most of us carry bags with things we don’t want stolen,” Valentine said. “I think that’s how the term bag lady came about.”

When the prosecutor asked her whether she thought she looked homeless, she simply shrugged.

In previous testimony, Police Sgt. Kevin Brown said police normally do not arrest those caught littering or jaywalking.

Litterers are usually cited and immediately released if they have identification, he said.

The defendants arrested during Operation Civic Center were detained because they could not provide proper identification, Brown said.

However, Leo Boyd, 19, who was living at the Civic Center at the time of his arrest, told the court that he showed officers a driver’s license. Boyd said the arresting officers also asked him where he lived.

“I pointed to a doorway and told them I lived there,” Boyd said.

The officers then transported Boyd and another homeless person to the stadium, where he was chained to a bench for six hours.

Boyd is also accused of throwing away a cigarette butt.

Another defendant, Bradford Brown, 32, testified that he tried to give police his California state identification, which listed a church on Bush Street as his address. Brown told the court that he had no other home at the time of his arrest.

“That’s the only address I knew of at the time,” Brown said. “It was the only address I had to get my mail.”

Brown was taken to the stadium, where he was chained for three hours.