L.A. Police Accused of 1990 Attack

Flanked by civil rights activists, a former Air Force captain came forward Friday to accuse Los Angeles police officers of hog-tying him and breaking his ankle in what he said was an unprovoked attack last June near Lafayette Park.

Jerry Wayne Walker, 38, who spent 10 years in the military, said at a news conference that what happened to him often happens to African-American men in Los Angeles “who are not given the benefit of the doubt” by authorities. Walker is black.

He said that he has been unable to find work as a result of injuries suffered in the June 11, 1990, incident, and that the mere sight of a patrol car now frightens him.

“I just see a black-and-white and it triggers extreme tense fears of apprehension,” Walker said.

A spokesmen for the Police Department declined comment, citing pending litigation. A spokeswomen at County-USC Medical Center, where Walker said he received substandard treatment after the incident, also declined comment.

Walker, who is preparing a $1.2-million federal lawsuit, told reporters he had just gotten off an RTD bus on 6th Street near Lafayette Park shortly after midnight when, without explanation, he was thrown to the ground, hog-tied and beaten on the torso and legs by about half a dozen officers of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart Division.

Later, Walker said, he was told that he resembled an armed robber for whom the officers were searching.

During the incident, Walker said, he repeatedly proclaimed his innocence to officers but they ignored him.

Walker, arrested on suspicion of armed robbery and resisting arrest, was taken to the jail ward at County-USC Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.

His left ankle was broken in two places and a metal plate had to be inserted in one leg because of the damage suffered in the incident, Walker said.

Several days after the incident, two unidentified police detectives came to see Walker at the jail ward to tell him their investigation had cleared him of any suspicion of armed robbery. But they did not offer an apology for the injuries he suffered at the hands of the officers, Walker said.

A $1.2-million claim alleging assault, battery, false arrest, false imprisonment and violation of civil rights was filed on Walker’s behalf against the city on Feb. 6. It was rejected a month later, according to city documents filed in the case.

A claim against Los Angeles County, alleging poor medical treatment, was rejected March 7, said Walker’s lawyer, Booker T. Hogan Jr. of Beverly Hills.