Federal Rights Suit Filed Over Raid on House : Police: Six former residents charge that officers ransacked home and conducted needless strip-searches. No drugs were found and no one was arrested.

Six former Pomona residents have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city, charging that five police officers needlessly burst into their home during an early morning drug raid last year and strip-searched all the occupants.

Police found no evidence of drugs and no one was arrested, but the house was ransacked and property was destroyed, said attorney Jerry Wagstaff who represents the six plaintiffs.

“This is really outrageous conduct,” Wagstaff said. “The house was damaged from one end to the other.”

The complaint was filed in Los Angeles federal court Tuesday on behalf of Peaches Hargrave, La Shawn Simmons, Marlene Simmons, Richard Robinson, Eric Donaldson and Jerry Cossey.

Listed as defendants are the city of Pomona, Police Chief Lloyd Wood and unnamed officers.

Wood was out of town last week and unavailable for comment.

City Atty. Arnold Glasman declined to comment on details of the incident because of the pending suit.

But he said, “We have taken a very aggressive stance that claims that are without merit we will litigate.”

The police raid occurred at 7:45 a.m., Jan. 21, 1991, when his clients were awakened by officers bursting into the house at 983 7th St., Wagstaff said.

The search warrant did not contain the names of any of the six occupants, the lawyer said. Instead, police were seeking an unnamed man with a shoulder-length Jeri curl.

“He did not fit the description of anyone who lived there, but the police didn’t pay any attention to that,” Wagstaff said.

Police also were seeking evidence of drug dealing. The search warrant listed cocaine and cocaine-dealing supplies, such as scales, balloons, miniature spoons and other items.

In their search, officers broke doors off hinges, smashed tiles in the acoustical ceiling and damaged television sets and a VCR, Wagstaff said. After no drugs were found in the house, his clients were strip-searched and Marlene Simmons was given a body cavity search, the attorney said.

“They were looking for large quantities of drugs, and no one could possibly hide a large quantity for sale in their privates,” he said. “I think after searching the house (unsuccessfully), this was a last-ditch effort.”

The plaintiffs, who were friends and relatives ranging in age from 18 to 39, have moved out of Pomona, Wagstaff said. They had no record of drug dealing, he said.

“They picked the wrong people,” the lawyer said of police.

Wagstaff filed a claim against the city July 22, 1991. It was rejected Sept. 3, 1991, after city officials decided that the claim was unfounded, said the city’s risk manager, Richard Bacio.

Rejection of the claim led to the filing of the federal lawsuit.