Councilman Exonerated in Confrontation at Park

San Diego City Councilman George Stevens has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing in a disturbance between police and citizens at a park in his district, a statement issued by Stevens’ office said.

Stevens said the city attorney’s office has exonerated him from accusations that he interfered with officers’ attempts to break up an unruly crowd that gathered in August at the Willie Henderson Sports Complex in the Mountain View area of Stevens’ 4th Council District.

A complaint against Stevens was filed in September by an attorney for the Police Officers Assn., saying he violated the City Charter by ordering officers away from the park as they conducted sweeps for drug peddlers and errant Navy personnel.

According to Stevens, the city attorney issued a statement Monday after a 2 1/2-month investigation into the disturbance. The city attorney’s statement was not available late Monday.

At the time of the disturbance, police regularly conducted sweeps of the park, sometimes using police dogs. The police were also accompanied by members of the Navy’s Shore Patrol to look for Navy personnel frequenting the park in violation of orders. The park has long been off-limits to Navy personnel.

On the day of the disturbance, police were pelted with rocks and bottles as they attempted to arrest civilians. Officers later donned riot gear and closed the park. Stevens said he intervened to calm the unrest.

“I wanted to protect the community from an escalation of violence and destruction,” Stevens said. “And that’s exactly what I did.”