Two Former Banning Athletes Are Awarded $326,550 by Jury

Two former high school football players were awarded $326,550 in damages Tuesday by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury that decided county sheriff’s deputies had used excessive force during an incident six years ago.

Terrence Powe and Tyrone Rodgers, defensive tackles on Wilmington Banning’s team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation for much of the 1987 season, testified during a two-week civil suit that a routine traffic stop in Carson on April 10, 1988, turned violent. They alleged that they were beaten behind the sheriff’s station in retribution for a deputy having suffered a cut that required 10 stitches.

Powe, Rodgers and Powe’s mother, Gloria Jamison, accused deputies Kenneth Rush, Randy Seymour and Mark D. Wedel of assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress on Jamison, false arrest of Rodgers and violation of civil rights.

Although criminal charges were not filed against the deputies, jurors who agreed to be interviewed said they believed authorities had acted improperly after Rush stopped Powe and Jamison for speeding. “It was just a bad day for the police department,” said juror Daniel Bastian of Gardena. “What should have been so simple went completely amok.”

Rodgers, a Seattle Seahawk reserve, and Powe played for the University of Washington.