EAGLE ROCK : $35,430 Awarded in Suit on Police Breakup of Party

A jury Wednesday awarded $35,430 to two of four members of an Eagle Rock family and their neighbor, who claimed several Los Angeles police officers brutalized them while breaking up a party.

Though the Los Angeles Superior Court jury has yet to decide punitive damages, the awards so far are minuscule compared to the $18 million the plaintiffs had sought. “It’s clear the jury isn’t thinking in large amounts,” said Paul Geragos, attorney for the Kutsch family and their neighbor, Joni Parillo.

The Kutsches--Robert, 49, and Betty, 48; their son Donald, 23, and daughter Kimberlea, 28--and Parillo sued the city in connection with a June 27, 1987, fracas that occurred when police were sent to break up a neighbor’s party. The plaintiffs were arrested and some were injured for objecting to the way officers broke up the party. They later pleaded guilty to public disturbance infractions and were released with time served on their night in jail.