2nd Laguna Beach Officer Fired in Kicking Incident

A second police officer has been fired in connection with the videotaped arrest of a homeless man shown lying on the ground while an officer kicked at him.

Police Chief Neil J. Purcell said Monday that he fired the officer for lying about the circumstances surrounding the arrest. Purcell would not reveal the officer’s name or other details because the first officer dismissed, Keith R. Knotek, is the subject of a Laguna Beach Personnel Board hearing that opens today.

Knotek, 26, was fired in May for allegedly using excessive force in arresting Kevin A. Dunbar, whom police questioned and discovered had misdemeanor warrants for his arrest. Dunbar, 25, was one of four people arrested by six officers called to a wild party last summer in South Laguna. A resident captured Dunbar’s arrest on videotape, and Dunbar has sued the city and the police officers for brutality.

The videotaped arrest led to investigations by the Orange County district attorney’s office, the grand jury and the FBI, but no charges were filed against the police officers.

The two-minute videotape shows Knotek kicking three times at Dunbar. The blows are not visible because a police car is in the way of the camera, but Knotek’s attorney acknowledged that the officer kicked the man while he struggled with officers.

Knotek appealed his firing, and the personnel board will consider the case in several days of unusual public proceedings at Laguna Beach City Hall. The three-member citizens’ panel is expected to hear testimony from expert witnesses on police training, proper use of force and whether Knotek crossed that boundary by kicking Dunbar.

Such hearings are rarely open to the public because disciplinary actions against city employees are usually kept secret to protect the rights of workers, City Atty. Philip Kohn said Monday.

But Knotek’s attorney, Gregory G. Petersen, filed a request last week asking that the officer’s appeal be conducted openly. Petersen is expected to criticize Purcell for firing the officer and offer testimony from police training experts to support the kicking.

The central issue will be whether Knotek’s kicks were justified to subdue the man and, thus, whether Purcell was justified in firing the officer.

“The first witness we will call is Neil Purcell,” Petersen said earlier this month. “I want to screw him into a light bulb and see what he has to say about all this.”

Petersen alleges that Dunbar fought and struck at the officers trying to arrest him. During the struggle to handcuff him, Knotek kicked Dunbar in the upper body, Petersen said. Kicks are considered proper use of force and are taught to officers in the police academy, he said.

Purcell, however, has said repeatedly that Knotek’s kicks were “totally inappropriate and excessive.” Dunbar was not a threat to the arresting officers at the time he was kicked, making the kicks unjustified, Purcell said.

The kicking incident didn’t come to light until December, 1990, when Dunbar released the videotape to a frequent Police Department critic who gave copies to the district attorney, a private attorney and the news media. Purcell immediately placed Knotek on desk duty and began an internal inquiry.

After Purcell fired Knotek, he reprimanded Officer Michael Donahue for not including in his police report that Dunbar had received visible injuries and that he was treated at an area hospital.