7 Years Later, $175,000 Paid to Settle Police Brutality Case

The city has settled one of its longest-running police brutality cases, seven years after four police officers, including one who is now chief of police, allegedly beat a man they said provoked a fight.

Bassey Udom, an ex-police officer from Nigeria, last week received $175,000 in damages from the city and its insurer, Independent Cities Risk Management Group.

Udom, who nows lives in Inglewood, declined comment, but his attorney, Thomas Beck, said he was pleased with the settlement. Beck said Udom had done nothing to antagonize then-Police Officers James Edwards, Daniel Fonseca, Dennis Tavernelli and John Zsenyuk who, Beck said, repeatedly called Udom “Idi Amin” and teased him about his heavy Nigerian accent. Edwards is now police chief.

Udom was arrested in 1984 and charged with resisting arrest, battery upon a police officer and urinating in public.

“The city had no defense,” Beck said. “Emotionally, this guy has been screwed up forever. Think about it, this guy is a police sergeant from Nigeria, trained in the English tradition, and he discovered what police officers are capable of here.”

Beck said Udom suffered burns from a Taser electronic stun gun and cuts and bruises, but was not seriously hurt.

City officials said they were forced to settle the case because they had already spent almost $100,000 in attorney’s fees during the criminal trial and could not afford additional fees for a prolonged civil case. In addition, the city’s insurance carrier balked at the thought of a trial, saying that the “Rodney King syndrome” made it too risky to take the case before a jury, City Administrator John Bramble said. The videotaped beating of unarmed motorist King by a group of Los Angeles police officers in March has created a national uproar, focusing heavy attention on the issue of police brutality.

“(When it comes to use of excessive force) a lot of people are making decisions they otherwise would not have made because of Rodney King,” Bramble said.

Officers Fonseca and Zsenyuk, two of the four officers named in the complaint, are no longer with the department. Zsenyuk resigned to become a police officer in Northern California. Fonseca, who had a history of disciplinary problems, according to Chief Edwards, also resigned during the late 1980s.

The other two officers named in the complaint, Edwards, a 25-year veteran of the force, and Sgt. Dennis Tavernelli, a 20-year veteran, said that they were disappointed the city chose to settle.

“I don’t believe an entity should fold when nothing wrong was done,” Tavernelli said. “It leaves a stigma.”

Edwards said that the decision whether to go to trial was not based on who was right or wrong.

“The real issue is how much is it going to cost,” Edwards said. “We didn’t do one thing wrong and, in my humble opinion, there should have been no money paid out.”

Udom was stopped by Fonseca in December, 1984, on Elizabeth Street in Cudahy. At the time, the Bell Police Department also served the neighboring city of Cudahy. Whether Udom baited Fonseca and the other officers and then resisted arrest has been argued in four criminal court proceedings, but no clear picture of what occurred has emerged.

Two criminal trials resulted in hung juries. After a third trial, Udom was convicted on all counts. In early 1990, those convictions were reversed by an appeals court and the matter was dropped. A civil complaint aledging police brutality was filed by Udom in federal court in 1987. It was scheduled to go to trial shortly before the settlement was reached.

An internal affairs investigation conducted by the Police Department found that the four officers did nothing wrong.

“This has been dragging around for seven years,” Bell City Councilman George Cole said. “There have been convictions and appeals and overturning of convictions and appeals. If it had gone to (civil) trial maybe we would have known what the story was, one way or another.”

According to attorney Beck, Udom and a fellow passenger were driving down Elizabeth Street about 10 p.m. when Udom became ill and pulled over to the side of the road. He left the car and vomited near a telephone pole. As he climbed into his car and prepared to drive off, Officer Fonseca drove up, asked Udom for his license and asked him what he was doing by the pole. Beck said Udom told Fonseca that he was ill, and Fonseca, flashlight in hand, walked to the pole to investigate.

In the meantime, Beck said, Tavernelli and Zsenyuk, who were on routine patrol, pulled up and began taunting Udom, calling him “Idi Amin.” Fonseca reappeared, handed Udom his license, and told him that he was free to go. However, Beck said, Tavernelli and Zsenyuk insisted that Fonseca write Udom a ticket. “For what?” Udom and Fonseca reportedly asked. “Urinating in public,” the pair reportedly replied.

Beck said Udom protested, but Fonseca wrote out the citation and handed it to him to sign. Udom signed, but the officers did not like his signature and asked him to sign it again. Beck said Fonseca was still not happy with the signature and angrily grabbed the pen from Udom. At that point, all three officers “descended” upon Udom, spraying him in the face with tear gas and beating him.

Beck said one of the officers called in to the station saying that they were bringing in “Idi Amin.” Edwards was waiting for the officers when they arrived at the station, and when Udom was taken from the car Edwards shot him with the Taser electronic gun.

According to the police report, however, Fonseca spotted Udom urinating against the telephone pole. As he wrote Udom a citation, Tavernelli and Zsenyuk arrived. Fonseca asked Udom to sign the citation and Udom refused, according to the report. “I informed him that if he did not sign the citation, I’d have no alternative but to take him into custody,” Fonseca wrote.

Udom this time signed, but Fonseca said that the signature did not match the signature on his license. Fonseca asked Udom “at least five times” to sign his full signature, to which Udom reportedly responded “that’s all I have to do.”

Fonseca said Udom finally agreed to sign. But when he finished he slammed the citation book shut and rammed it into Fonseca’s stomach, the report stated. A fight broke out, during which Udom allegedly grabbed the handle of Zsenyuk’s revolver. Udom was eventually handcuffed and taken to the station, the report stated.