Jury Clears Huntington Beach Officers in Excessive-Force Suit : Courts: Actions of 5 policemen during 1991 arrest were reasonable, jurors say. Michael Scanlon, who was thought to be driving a stolen truck, reportedly resisted arrest.

A Superior Court jury ruled Thursday that five Huntington Beach police officers did not use excessive force when they arrested a man in 1991 who was driving a pickup that had been reported stolen.

Michael Scanlon, a 34-year-old paralegal, sued the officers and the city, alleging officers used excessive force during the traffic stop, including a type of neck hold that rendered him briefly unconscious.

But the jury, after about 3 1/2 hours of deliberations, ruled in favor of the city and officers Steven Schnars, Jack Paholski, Dave Bunetta, Brian Tedrick and Daryk Rowland.

“The majority believed the officers’ version of the events and concluded the force was reasonable and was not excessive,” said Attorney Neal Moore, who represented the city and the officers.

A sixth officer initially named as a defendant was dropped from the suit for lack of evidence near the end of the 2 1/2-week trial, Moore added.

The five remaining officers testified that Scanlon had resisted arrest. The trial “was a stressful thing for them,” Moore said.

The officers also had been cleared of any wrongdoing by a department investigation, Moore said.

Scanlon was disappointed with the verdict, his lawyer, L.G. Strickland, said.

“Basically it was a battle of the experts as to the force used,” she said.

The Huntington Beach man was never charged with a crime in the Jan. 31, 1991, arrest at Beach Boulevard and Slater Avenue and was released the next day. The stolen-car report stemmed from a dispute with a former employer that was later resolved, Strickland said.

Scanlon, who said he suffered neck and shoulder injuries, was seeking about $123,000 for alleged violations of his civil rights, pain and suffering and medical expenses.