Inquiry Into Laguna Police Kicking Incident Continues

The Orange County district attorney’s office is continuing to investigate an incident captured on videotape that shows a Laguna Beach police officer kicking at a homeless man during an arrest last summer.

The videotape, shot by a resident from his second-story window, shows five police officers surrounding a man lying on a sidewalk in South Laguna. The tape shows one officer kicking several times at the man in the direction of his upper body, but the blows are obscured by a police car parked at the scene.

However, when the man, identified as Kevin A. Dunbar, 25, is brought to his feet and placed in a police car, a bloody red bruise is visible under his right eye. The police report taken at the time says Dunbar was treated at a local hospital for a contusion on his cheek and for a scrape on the cornea of his right eye. The police report says Dunbar “thrashed about” on the ground during his arrest, but makes no mention of how Dunbar got hurt.

Dunbar’s girlfriend heard about the videotape shortly after the incident, obtained it from the resident and gave it to Dunbar. However, Dunbar did not release the tape until December, when an acquaintance persuaded him to go public and file a $10-million claim against the city.

Police arrested Dunbar during the June incident because of outstanding warrants for failing to appear in court on earlier misdemeanor charges, mostly for drinking in public. Police also said Dunbar invited police to fight him and took a swing at one of the officers. The videotape doesn’t show that; it begins at the instant the officer begins kicking.

The videotape persuaded Police Chief Neil J. Purcell to place the officer involved on desk duty until the district attorney and the Police Department conclude their separate investigations of the incident. Both investigations are continuing.

The district attorney’s office has interviewed several witnesses of the arrest, but probably won’t conclude the matter for at least a few weeks, Deputy Dist. Atty. Wallace Wade said.