SIMI VALLEY : Businessman Sues, Alleges False Arrest

A prominent Simi Valley businessman has filed a $50-million civil rights lawsuit against the city, contending that he was falsely arrested on three occasions and has been continually harassed by police for the last five years.

Richard Arthur Mann, a 35-year resident of the city, filed the lawsuit in U. S. District Court in Los Angeles last week. His attorney, Richard Hamlish, served notice to the city Thursday.

City Atty. John Torrance declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying he had not seen the complaint.

Mann, who owns Century 21 Time Realty, said he was falsely arrested by police on three occasions in the last five years, but that no charges have ever been filed.

“They had no right to do what they did,” he said.

The lawsuit names Detective Robert Hopkins, Sgt. Mike Brewer, Chief Paul Miller, and Officers James Krug and J. Gonce, as well as the city. In addition to his claim against the city, Mann is seeking $50 million in damages from each individual named for the “mental anguish, anxiety, humiliation and fear” he has suffered.

Mann said he was arrested on Sept. 17, 1987, on suspicion of battery. He said he was never told who he supposedly beat up and was eventually released.

On July 1, 1991, Mann said he was arrested on suspicion of kidnaping and forcible rape of a female friend, adding that he was not allowed to see his attorney after the arrest and that his medication for a heart condition was purposely withheld.

Mann was released the next day after he posted $20,000 bail. No charges were filed in the case, he said. Mann said the woman who had accused him was a disgruntled tenant.

On July 23, Mann said he was arrested on suspicion of deliberately setting off the security alarm at his house, but he said the alarm went off by accident.

Mann said that years ago he would occasionally report on police officers that he felt were not doing their job.

“If I saw four police cars gathered at a doughnut shop, I would complain,” he said. But Mann, who said he waited until his health improved to file the lawsuit, said he does not believe that is the reason that he is being harassed.

“I have no idea” why police would want to do so, he said. “I have never been charged with anything. I haven’t even had a speeding ticket in the last five years.”