CRISIS IN THE LAPD: THE RODNEY KING BEATING : Suit Charges Powell Used Force in ’89

Laurence M. Powell, one of four Los Angeles police officers indicted in the March 3 beating of Rodney G. King, has been named in a lawsuit alleging another act of excessive force in which a Salvadoran factory worker’s elbow was fractured by a police baton.

The injury occurred on Oct. 7, 1989, when police responded to a fight on Arlington Avenue in the Mid-City area. Salvador Castaneda was armed with a machete but dropped it when he saw the police, according to his attorney, James A. Prietto, and police reports.

Unlike Powell’s account of King’s arrest, which significantly downplayed the force used against the black Altadena motorist, the officer acknowledged in Castaneda’s arrest report that the 36-year-old fabric cutter’s left elbow required surgery for injuries “caused by use of force.”

A use of force report, however, fails to note that Castaneda was hospitalized. The use of force report, required whenever a Los Angeles officer uses force to make an arrest, also fails to characterize Castaneda’s injuries.

Prietto said he was not certain who filled out the use of force report, although he believes it was Powell.

“When you look at the arrest report and the use of force report, it’s remarkably silent as to the extent of force,” Prietto said. “They sort of mention in passing his elbow was fractured, but they don’t mention he ended up being in the hospital for a week or so.”

Powell’s attorneys could not be reached for comment Friday.

Thomas C. Hokinson, a senior assistant city attorney in charge of civil liability, declined comment until he had a chance to review the lawsuit. A Los Angeles police spokesman said the department does not comment on pending litigation.

Powell, 28, a three-year Police Department veteran, has been charged in the King case with assault, excessive force under color of authority and filing a false police report. The Los Angeles County Grand Jury also indicted Sgt. Stacey C. Koon and Officers Theodore J. Briseno and Timothy E. Wind. The four officers are white.

In 1987, Briseno was suspended for 66 days without pay after fellow officers testified during an administrative hearing that he hit a suspect with his baton and later kicked the man while he was handcuffed.

The King beating continued to stir political controversy Friday. A campaign to recall Police Chief Daryl F. Gates was certified by the city clerk’s office, and organizers said they would launch their petition drive today at an anti-Gates rally in front of Parker Center police headquarters.

At a Police Academy graduation Friday, Gates defended his department by saying the King incident “would not have made much news anywhere else but it became worldwide news because it was the LAPD. When you’re at the top and fall, it is news.”

By comparison, Gates said, the recent indictments of five New York City police officers for murder had drawn less attention than the King beating because “that’s New York and you expect it there.”

City Councilman Nate Holden, who has faced intense criticism for his failure to condemn Gates in the wake of the King beating, defended his position Friday. In a letter mailed to 40,000 households within his district, Holden said: “My personal view has always been not to choose sides on this very emotional issue . . . but rather to wait until the investigations are completed and corrective action is recommended.

“I am not shooting from my lip or my hip.”

King, a 25-year-old laborer, is still recovering from fractures to his right leg and the right side of his face, where he was hit by more than 50 baton blows during his arrest. He has filed an $83-million claim against the city, and is expected to file a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.

Castaneda’s lawsuit, filed last May, originally named the city and several unnamed police officers as defendants. Powell’s name was provided by the city attorney’s office last January, according to Prietto.

Prietto--who said he was given only Powell’s last name, first initial and serial number--said he did not realize Powell was the same officer linked to the King beating until March 15, when he read a newspaper article about the highly publicized incident. He said the city attorney’s office later confirmed it was the same officer.

Prietto said his client, a Los Angeles resident, only remembers being struck twice with a baton and thinks the first blow was to the back of his head. Powell’s partner that night, Officer Jacqueline Russell, said during a recent deposition that Castaneda was struck one to five times, the attorney said.

The arrest occurred in the Police Department’s Wilshire Division. King was stopped in the Foothill Division in the northeast San Fernando Valley.

“There’s not really any doubt that it was Powell,” Prietto said, adding that he believes Powell and Russell were the only police officers at the scene when Castaneda was taken into custody. “Russell was still in the academy at that time, and she was just riding along. He remembers it was the man that hit him.”

Castaneda was treated at Beverly Hills Medical Center, then taken to County-USC Medical Center for booking and surgery. He was there about a week, Prietto said.

Powell’s report says he ordered Castaneda to drop the machete, and that Castaneda complied, but then started to walk away from the police.

“I grabbed (defendant’s) left arm and ordered him to stop in English and Spanish,” Powell’s report states. “(Defendant) pulled away from my grasp and pushed me back. (Defendant) came towards me and raised his (right) arm in a threatening manner. I struck (defendant) with my baton to overcome his resistance and took him into custody.”

Prietto said Castaneda was charged with misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon, but that the case was dismissed.

Times staff writer Carol McGraw contributed to this story.