LAPD Abuse Charged by Black Officer : Law enforcement: Policeman says he was roughed up because of his race at a North Hollywood bank where he moonlights as a security officer.

Los Angeles police are investigating claims by a black officer who said he was roughed up because of his race by fellow officers as he stood in front of a North Hollywood bank where he moonlights as a plainclothes security guard.

Thurman Paul, an eight-year LAPD patrol officer in the Southwest Division, said Friday he was standing in front of the Bank of America branch in the 5200 block of Lankershim Boulevard at about 7 p.m. Thursday, waiting for a ride home from his wife, when he was accosted by about 10 officers from the North Hollywood Division in an unprovoked attack.

Paul, 36, said the officers, who pushed him to the ground and put their knees roughly against his back and neck as his pregnant wife watched, apparently presumed that because he is black he was a crime threat. They ignored his repeated protests that he was an off-duty police officer, Paul said.

“They hurt me pretty bad,” said Paul in a telephone interview. His attorney said Paul plans to sue the department on civil rights grounds, arguing that he was manhandled and detained solely because he is black.

Two witnesses said Paul appeared to disregard orders from the uniformed officers to raise his hands and then resisted when the officers tried to put him in handcuffs.

“They grabbed his arms and tried to handcuff him and then he started fighting and stuff,” said Greg Kuhn, 24, who saw the incident while working at a furniture store across the street. “Then they got him on the ground, put the handcuffs on and put him in a car. They didn’t hit him at all.”

Another witness said Paul appeared puzzled by the actions of the police officers who arrived at the bank, guns drawn, yelling orders at him.

“He had a question mark on his face,” said Andres Villalobos, 22, who saw the incident from the video store across the street where he works. “He must have thought they would recognize him. . . . I thought they were going to shoot the guy because he didn’t cooperate.”

Even after the other officers found Paul’s police identification, he was taken to the North Hollywood station for questioning, said Los Angeles Police Commander Carlo Cudio, second in command of LAPD operations in the San Fernando Valley.

Cudio declined to say why the officers who detained Paul had gone to the bank in the first place, or whether officers on routine patrol had noticed Paul in front of the bank in civilian clothes and summoned reinforcements.

Paul was released at the station and then sought treatment for cuts and bruises at a North Hollywood hospital.

Cudio said the incident has been referred to the department’s Internal Affairs Division for investigation.

“The fact that internal affairs is involved doesn’t necessarily mean there is any indication of wrongdoing on anybody’s part,” Cudio said. “There were issues raised that called for an independent body and Internal Affairs fits that mold.”

Stephen Yagman, an attorney specializing in police abuse cases, said he will represent Paul in a lawsuit against Los Angeles police that he plans to file Monday.

“They violated his rights under the 4th Amendment to be free from illegal arrest and excessive force, and they violated his civil rights as an African-American to be free of discriminatory treatment,” Yagman said.

Yagman said Paul was manhandled by police because he is black and because officers did not know he is a policeman.

Paul’s wife arrived at the bank shortly after police.

“I pulled up and saw him on the ground surrounded by police,”’ said his wife, Anita Paul, who is pregnant with the couple’s fourth child. “I saw all those guns and I wondered if my baby would ever see his father.”

Paul, who lives with his family in North Hollywood, was working a second job for a private security firm that contracts with Bank of America, a bank spokesman said.