SIMI VALLEY : Former Officer Files Claim Over Arrest

A former Simi Valley police officer has filed a legal claim against the city and the police, alleging that he was wrongly arrested and held for 14 days on suspicion of raping a woman in 1989.

Former Officer Paul A. Nolan filed the claim Tuesday, seeking lost wages and other damages from the city of Simi Valley, the Police Department, Chief Lindsey P. Miller, City Manager Lin Koester and suspended Lt. Robert Klamser.

Nolan, 31, was arrested Nov. 18 after meeting the 36-year-old woman in the parking lot of his apartment complex, the claim said. The woman, wearing a wireless radio transmitter, accused Nolan of raping her nearly 3 1/2 years earlier, the claim said. Nolan denied the accusation, it said.

When Nolan went to put his belongings into his truck, Klamser and other officers moved in and arrested him, the claim said. Ventura County prosecutors charged Nolan with rape.

Put on paid administrative leave shortly after his arrest, Nolan then was fired Dec. 10 for unrelated reasons that department officials will not discuss.

On Jan. 28, a county Municipal Court judge dismissed the rape charge when it was revealed that the woman had had a sexual relationship with Nolan before the alleged incident and that she exchanged gifts and Christmas cards with him afterward.

Nolan’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Todd Howeth, complained to the Police Department that the investigation, supervised by Klamser, was improper. The department then suspended Klamser pending an internal investigation, but police officials decline to say why they removed him from duty and put him on paid leave.

Miller declined Wednesday to discuss Nolan’s case, saying it is a confidential personnel matter. Miller added, “It is not routine for this department to prematurely arrest people, and whether or not it happened in this case, the investigation will determine that.”

City Atty. John Torrance declined to comment for the city on Nolan’s claim, saying his office does not discuss civil claims with the media.

Klamser and Koester could not be reached for comment.

Nolan, who has moved from Ventura County, has appealed his dismissal to a state arbitrator.