3 Who Claim Deputies Beat Them Agree to Settle Suit

Three Temple City men who claim 13 sheriff’s deputies viciously beat them two years ago have agreed to settle their federal lawsuit for $925,000, their attorney said Tuesday.

The Los Angeles County Claims Board today is expected to consider the settlement of the suit, filed against the county and the deputies in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The board will issue a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, which has the final say on approving the settlement.

Attorney E. Thomas Barham, who represented the men, called the case “outrageous” and an example of ongoing misconduct by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“Every one of these deputies should have been fired and should have been criminally prosecuted,” Barham said.

Robert Ambrose, assistant county counsel, said county attorneys are backing the settlement even though they disagree with the plaintiffs’ version of events. But, he acknowledged, “They have witnesses that would support their version of what took place and the court or jury might find against the county.”

Ambrose said he did not know whether the deputies involved had been disciplined. He refused to comment further, saying that the Sheriff’s Department is still conducting an internal investigation into the matter.

One of the injured men, Fred Scott Mace, now 27, had a testicle removed because of the beating, Barham said.

Meanwhile, Russell Trice, now 27, needs a back operation, which will be done at a county hospital as part of the settlement, the attorney said.

The settlement comes at a time when the Sheriff’s Department has been confronted by public criticism and scrutiny, as well as criminal investigations into misconduct by deputies.

According to Barham, Deputies Michael Thomas and Anthony Van Beek went to a four-unit apartment building in Temple City at 3:20 a.m. on Sept. 30, 1989, after a neighbor complained of a noisy party. When the officers arrived, the party was over. The deputies found Mace and another man in the parking lot.

Mace, who had been drinking, exchanged words with the deputies and was ordered inside his apartment, the attorney said. As he walked away, Mace said to one of the deputies, ‘ “Get a real job; you’re too fat to be a deputy sheriff.’ ”

A pushing match ensued, and backup deputies were called to the scene, Barham said.

He said deputies beat Mace, along with Trice, a guest at the apartment, and Mace’s father, Leigh Mace, now 61.