Morgan Tells of Threats by Officer : Trial: The former baseball star testifies that a detective shoved and handcuffed him at LAX. He is suing the city and the policeman.

Baseball Hall of Famer Joe Morgan testified Tuesday that a narcotics detective seized him by the neck, tossed him to the ground, handcuffed him and menacingly warned that he would show Morgan “what authority is all about” during a 1988 altercation at Los Angeles International Airport.

Morgan--who played 22 seasons, mostly with the Cincinnati Reds, before retiring in 1984--has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles and a police detective over the incident.

Morgan told Los Angeles federal court jurors that on March 15, 1988, he was changing planes at Los Angeles on a flight from Oakland to Tucson when he was mistaken for a drug courier by Los Angeles Police Detective Clayton Searle and his partner from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

Morgan, 47, said he was standing at a bank of telephones when Searle approached to question him as part of a drug investigation. Morgan said that before he could show the officer any identification, he was grabbed from behind, shoved to the floor and handcuffed.

Asked why he was being detained, Morgan said that Searle told him he was “an authority figure” who would show Morgan “what authority is all about.”

“I didn’t know what he meant then, and I still don’t now,” said Morgan, a businessman and commentator on national baseball telecasts.

Morgan’s testimony came on the opening day of the second trial of his suit against Searle and the city. A federal jury ruled in favor of the defendants, the city and Searle, last year, but U.S. District Judge Marian R. Pfaelzer ordered a new trial after ruling that she had failed to instruct jurors that Morgan had been illegally detained by police.

The DEA agent was dismissed as a defendant during the first trial.

In seeking unspecified damages, Morgan claims that he was targeted merely because he is black, and that he suffered physical injuries and emotional distress.

Both Searle, 42, who is expected to testify later this week, and his attorney, Assistant City Atty. Honey A. Lewis, declined to comment. But Lewis told The Times earlier that Searle acted properly and was merely asking Morgan to identify himself when Morgan suddenly became belligerent, spewing profanities and slapping the officer.

Richard L. Ruybalid, 30, testified that he heard Morgan repeatedly offer to retrieve his identification from his attache case but that Searle ignored the request. When Ruybalid tried to intervene--informing the officer that he was holding “Joe Morgan, a great baseball player”--he said the detective warned Ruybalid not to interfere.

Ruybalid said he watched Searle drag the handcuffed Morgan away with one hand cupped over Morgan’s mouth and nose.

Morgan testified that he was freed after a suspected drug courier, who also had been detained, cleared Morgan of involvement.