City Urged to Pay $556,000 in Police Beating at Party : Judgment: Award would go to 26 people allegedly hit during a baptismal gathering.

A Los Angeles City Council panel recommended Tuesday that the city pay $556,000 to 26 party-goers who were allegedly beaten by police during a 1989 baptismal party in Arleta that turned into a bloody melee.

The council’s Budget and Finance Committee recommended paying the judgment, which was handed down in March by a Superior Court judge who ruled that police violated the party-goers’ civil rights by using excessive force to close down a loud celebration.

The city attorney’s office also recommended making the payment, saying in a report to the committee that “there is sufficient evidence to support the verdict” and that an appeal to a higher court would probably fail.

The entire council will consider the panel’s recommendation next week.

Leon P. Gilbert, a Woodland Hills lawyer who represented the party-goers, said the police attack on his clients was “a terrible situation” and he hopes the judgment will send a message to police officers.

“There is no reason for police to go in and overreact and assault people,” he said.

The injuries, according to testimony at the trial, were inflicted by about 30 police officers who made the guests run a gantlet of blows as they filed out of the house where the party was held.

Six people, including two brothers who owned the house, were arrested on misdemeanor charges of battering police officers, but the charges were later dropped.

The incident began when police officers showed up at a house in the 9800 block of Mercedes Street in response to a complaint about loud music at the baptismal party of Agustine Chavez’s 20-month-old daughter, Crystal, according to court testimony.

Police entered the back yard of the home and asked Chavez to turn down the music. According to the testimony of one witness, one party-goer was struck by a police officer when he asked why police were called and whether they had a search warrant.

“This is your warrant,” the officer allegedly said before striking the guest in the head and chest with a baton.

Police called for backup when several officers were punched by party-goers, according to a city attorney’s report. About 30 officers showed up and directed party guests out of the house, the report said.

But witnesses testified that when they filed out of the house, police formed a line and struck men, women and children with flashlights and batons as they walked past.

After the incident, Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Valentino Paniccia, who was then in charge of Foothill patrol officers, said in an interview that there was no police misconduct and that the “arrests were handled without incident and without battery . . . except in self-defense.”

After the judge ruled in favor of the party-goers, Paniccia said the verdict shows it is fashionable to make false accusations of brutality against police officers in lawsuits, and for judges and juries to award the plaintiffs damages.

Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, committee chairman, said officers involved were not punished because the Police Department was not notified of the claim until a one-year statute of limitations had expired.

He said that time limit has been extended under new guidelines proposed by the Christopher Commission, which investigated the department after the Rodney G. King beating. For more recent cases, the deadline is now one year after police supervisors learn of a claim of police misconduct.