Oxnard Man Says 4 Officers Clubbed Him

A 23-year-old man said Monday that he was pistol-whipped and struck with nightsticks when four Oxnard police officers--including a patrolman accused of participating in a bloody melee at a graduation party last year--tried to arrest him in the driveway of his home.

However, police said Gilbert Pedraza became violent when they tried to take him into custody after responding to a call of a fight at his house in October.

As a result of the incident, Pedraza said, he had to get stitches in a head wound, and his arm was cut and became swollen.

Pedraza and his attorney, Scott Schurmer of Ventura, say they plan to file a police brutality claim against the city within the next two weeks.

On Wednesday, county prosecutors dropped the case against Pedraza, an electronic technician, because they said police did not have probable cause to take the Oxnard man into custody on suspicion of resisting arrest.

This is the second alleged police brutality incident in a year involving Officer Nelson Latimer. Last June, Latimer and two other officers answered complaints of a loud graduation party at the home of Luis Flores Sr. in the 1300 block of South E Street. The confrontation exploded into a bloody fight involving party-goers and about 20 officers.

In January, the four men accused of resisting arrest in connection with the melee were acquitted by a Ventura County Superior Court jury.

Latimer, whose father is in charge of internal affairs for the Oxnard Police Department, could not be reached for comment Monday.

Assistant Police Chief Bill Cady said investigators have conducted internal inquiries into the two incidents, but he would not disclose what police have found.

“I cannot reveal internal investigations,” Cady said, adding that Latimer’s father was not involved in the inquiries into his son’s conduct.

Cady said it is acceptable for police officers to use force to take people into custody in some situations.

“You can use all the force that is necessary to affect an arrest,” Cady said. “Determining what is necessary is the issue.”

Pedraza said it was not necessary for police to use force against him.

“I was cooperating with them, and the next thing I know I was getting beat,” Pedraza said.

According to a police report, a neighbor called police about a fight at Pedraza’s house in the 1600 block of Coronado Place on Oct. 12. Upon arriving, police said, they found about 10 men, including Pedraza’s brother, David, standing in the driveway.

The police report says Pedraza came out, and police asked him for his identification. Pedraza said he would go inside to get it, the report states.

He began to walk into the house through the garage when he was called back by police, who said they were not done questioning him, according to the report.

The report said Pedraza would not step out of the garage, so police pulled him out and onto the driveway, where a struggle ensued. Pedraza then bit one of the officers, the report said.

The report says nothing about officers hitting Pedraza with nightsticks or the butt of a gun to subdue him. However, the report says, one of the officers suffered a bruised leg when he was struck with Latimer’s nightstick. His jacket was also soiled with Pedraza’s blood during the struggle, the report says.

The officers took Pedraza to the Ventura County Medical Center, where he was treated for his injuries, then booked into jail.

Joseph Lax, an attorney who represented Pedraza in his dealings with the district attorney’s office, said Monday night that he has not seen a copy of Pedraza’s hospital report.