Police Downplay Polynice Incident : Confrontation: Santa Monica officers call situation ‘an unfortunate misunderstanding.’

Santa Monica police Monday dismissed as “an unfortunate misunderstanding” a confrontation Sunday night with basketball player Olden Polynice of the Clippers that resulted when Polynice objected to a traffic officer’s detention of an automobile driven by another player, Sedale Threatt of the Lakers.

Several backup squad cars, including a K-9 animal unit, were summoned by the officer, who was not identified. The officer also brandished a police baton, “fearing,” according to a statement released by police, “that the confrontation with the 7-foot man might escalate beyond a verbal confrontation.”

Although no charges were filed, Polynice said Monday he had not ruled out filing a formal complaint.

Polynice, 27, who had moved into his new Santa Monica home that day, said he accompanied his fiancee Sunday evening to a Music Plus outlet at 14th and Wilshire. Upon coming out of the store, they spotted the eastbound late-model BMW auto of Threatt and his wife, who were passing by, and waved at them to stop.

Threatt double-parked, later telling police that he had noticed a woman in a parking space who appeared to be preparing to pull out. A motorcycle officer illuminated his flashing lights and directed Threatt to pull to a curb east of the store, whereupon Polynice stepped forward.

“Sedale didn’t do a thing. He was just waiting for the woman to leave,” Polynice said. “That’s all I told the police officer. And he says, ‘I suggest you step aside.’

“I just asked again why he turned on his lights and ordered Sedale to pull over that way, and he says: ‘If you persist, I’m going to have to write him a citation.’ I said that was crazy. Why should he give the driver a ticket if I’m the one who’s persisting?”

Asked then to show some identification, Polynice responded: “Show ID for what? For being a pedestrian?”

According to the statement issued Monday by Santa Monica police: “Mr. Polyneace (sic) was demanding, in a very confrontational manner, to know why the officer had stopped his friend. The officer, fearing that the confrontation with the 7-foot man might escalate beyond a verbal confrontation, retrieved a non-lethal weapon (his police baton).

“Mr. Polynece (sic) took offense to this and the verbal confrontation escalated even more. The officer called for assistance, due to his being alone. Several officers arrived, along with a K-9 unit. It was quickly determined that there was no necessity for that many officers to stand by and they were sent away.”

Angry at what he called a totally unnecessary overreaction, Polynice said: “What did he need his baton for? What did they need 10 officers for? What did they need a dog for? This wasn’t some drug deal.”

After being contacted the next day by the department’s Internal Affairs division, Polynice expressed a willingness to let the matter drop because: “They kind of apologized.” Later, though, upon hearing the police’s interpretation of the incident, Polynice said he felt betrayed.

“They tell me one thing to my face and tell the press exactly the opposite,” Polynice said.

Polynice also said he was puzzled by a police reference to two sergeants called to the scene to take charge. According to the statement: “One was the officer’s immediate supervisor and the other was an African-American female. Neither supervisor found the incident to be racially motivated and . . . no arrest was made because the officer himself felt that the incident was an unfortunate misunderstanding.”

“African-American female? What’s that got to do with anything?” Polynice asked.

Because of several recent accidents in the neighborhood, police said, including one that claimed four lives, a special traffic task force had been organized.

Motor officers have been assigned to increase their efforts in patrolling the area.

Polynice, who recently was singled out by civic officials in Los Angeles for his volunteer work in restoring order after an outbreak of theft and violence, said: “This is the very thing people have been fighting against--lack of communication and overreacting. It won’t deter me, but it sure does discourage me.”

Polynice has been with the Clippers since February of 1991. He is originally from Haiti, where his father was a policeman.