Family Rallies Behind Officer in Shooting of Deputy

Dennis Scanlan shook his head Wednesday as he stood on the front step of his son’s home, still stunned by the turn of events in his family over the last few days.

He has heard the talk about his 32-year-old son, Brian, all the sneers and suppositions about his training, his competence and even his motives in the Christmas Day shooting that claimed the life of fellow Deputy Darryn Leroy Robins during an impromptu training session.

Now he has had enough. Scanlan and Robins “were out there every day working together,” the retired Long Beach police officer said Wednesday. “They were best friends. That’s the hardest part about this whole thing.”

But it seems that public scrutiny will only intensify for his son.

“He’s devastated. It’s really hard for him to deal with,” said Scanlan’s brother, Michael, a sergeant in the Long Beach Police Department. “He’s a big guy . . . and to see him in tears and stuff, it’s hard for the rest of us.”

Authorities say Scanlan and Robins, 30, were running through an informal training session behind a movie theater in Lake Forest about 2 p.m. Saturday when Scanlan’s gun discharged and Robins was shot in the face.

Less than an hour before Robins was fatally shot, the two had assisted in a California Highway Patrol felony stop on a nearby freeway. Apparently, Robins had been bothered by how the stop was made and called for a re-enactment.

The Orange County district attorney’s office is investigating whether to file charges against Scanlan.

Orange County Urban League President George Williams said the organization will be watching the investigation to ensure that prosecutors do a thorough and speedy job.

“There’s a general perception in the community that the manner in which justice is administered is skewed toward blacks and other minorities not having the same kind of rights,” Williams said. Robins was black.

Meanwhile, Sheriff’s Department colleagues have portrayed Scanlan as dependable, well-liked and professional.

And although the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has refused to disclose criteria for naming field-training officers such as Scanlan, officials at the state’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training said such appointments typically go to only model officers.

But as family members have defended Scanlan, details of several complaints against him have come to light.

Records show that two Orange County men have filed claims against the county alleging that they were victimized by Scanlan. Such claims are not uncommon for veteran officers, officials said.

One man alleged that Scanlan stole $300 from him during a drug arrest, and a teen-ager claimed that Scanlan used excessive force while detaining him for possessing a false identification.

Scanlan denied wrongdoing in both cases. The claims, both filed in 1990, were rejected after county investigations found no evidence of misconduct.

Andrew C. Howe, 32, of Fountain Valley, was arrested Nov. 17, 1990, on drug charges after Scanlan said he saw the man with cocaine in his hand as he sat in the passenger seat of a car in the parking lot of an El Toro bar. In a claim filed the next month, Howe said Scanlan stole his wallet containing $270 and took $30 in cash from his jeans pocket during the arrest.

In the second complaint, 19-year-old Keith Pearson of El Toro accused Scanlan of abusing him during a stop in July, 1990, for skateboarding and disturbing the peace. Pearson alleged that Scanlan forced him against a patrol car and kneed him “to the point my feet left the ground.”

Pearson was later issued a ticket for illegally possessing a false identification. Scanlan told investigators that he never physically abused Pearson, but that Pearson kicked and struggled when he was detained. Scanlan said he used his knee to hold the suspect against the hood of the patrol car during handcuffing. The county rejected Pearson’s claim for $5,000 in damages.

In addition, Scanlan and a group of other deputies are accused in a lawsuit of roughing up two young men outside a party in 1991 at Scanlan’s Dana Point home. The lawsuit alleges that the deputies conspired to file false reports and demonstrated a pattern of “racial bigotry.”

But lawyers for the deputies say the plaintiffs were gang members who challenged the officers and initiated the confrontation. Trial on the suit is set for February.

Scanlan also has had problems off the job.

Traffic court records in Laguna Hills show that he faces an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The court issued a bench warrant in June, 1989, because he had failed to appear to answer a traffic citation for a defective headlight.

Also, at one point, Scanlan was behind more than $10,000 in child-support payments to his ex-wife, court records show.

Times staff writers Rene Lynch and Jesse Katz contributed to this story.