Appeals Court Finds Oxnard Liable in Raid

Oxnard police officers who sent a dog into the wrong house while investigating a burglary were negligent, and the city must pay damages to the 11 residents who were terrorized by the animal, a state appeals court has ruled.

The ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Ventura upholds a jury award of more than $22,000 to the 11 Spanish-speaking residents, who testified at trial that they did not understand the orders being given to them in English by police.

The unanimous opinion is the latest development in a five-year legal battle over whether the officers were immune from responsibility for their actions in November, 1987, when they surrounded the wrong house in the 2100 block of Carnegie Court.

The attorney for the residents, Joseph O’Neill, said his clients decided to file a lawsuit after the city refused to pay $450 in medical bills for the two men who were bitten by the police dog during the incident.

“They could have settled this case for less than 50% of the interest on this judgment,” O’Neill said.

“That’s a little bit disconcerting if that’s accurate,” Oxnard Councilman Mike Plisky said.

Although Plisky was on the council when the claim was considered, he does not remember the dollar amount. Other Oxnard officials who might be familiar with the case could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Plisky said he did not know whether the city would appeal to the state Supreme Court.

The 11 p.m. episode began when a police Explorer Scout called to report a possible burglary in progress at the southwest corner of the block. Responding to the call, police led by Officer Fred Sedillos surrounded the house on the northwest corner, where the 11 Mexican fieldworkers were asleep inside.

According to court documents, Officer Kevin Andrews said he shouted a warning in English before sending his dog into the house, where it bit the two residents. Police entered after the dog and corralled the occupants into one room, where they remained until a Spanish-speaking officer arrived.

“There were several factors contributing to the negligence that night, but the bottom line is that the last alternative should have been the release of the dog,” O’Neill said. “The police dogs at that time were a new toy for the Oxnard Police Department, and they were anxious to use them.”

Following an eight-day trial last year, a jury awarded almost $8,200 to Epifanio Cervantes, $5,068 to his brother, Artemio Cervantes, and $1,000 to each of the other nine residents in the house.

In its appeal, the city of Oxnard claimed that as a governmental entity it was immune from liability while engaged in a discretionary act, such as investigating a burglary report. In its ruling Tuesday, the appeals court disagreed.

“Although Officer Sedillos’s decision to investigate the burglary in progress may have been a discretionary act, (the law) did not provide him immunity from the consequences of his negligence in conducting the investigation,” Presiding Justice Steven Stone wrote. “He could not clothe himself with immunity . . . when it was the initial negligent methods of investigating that placed the canine at the door of the wrong house.”