Redefining Approach to Family Violence

It began as a regular romance for high school sweethearts Gloria and Frank Vince Lopez. Then came the steroid-induced rages and the beatings in front of their young daughter.

Frank lashed out when his wife wore makeup and never let her use the phone when he wasn’t in the room, police said. But in keeping with the twisted and well-documented cycle of domestic abuse, rage was followed by an almost worshipful love.

Separated from Gloria because of his outbursts, Frank nevertheless courted her with a feverish perseverance, sending flowers and love notes to her home and work three times over two straight days in September.

When she strolled out of her Santa Ana office cradling Frank’s last bouquet of sunflowers, he allegedly shot and wounded her, left her for dead and fled. Police are searching for Lopez, a bodybuilder and sometime male stripper, seeking to arrest him on suspicion of attempted murder and stalking.

While the Lopez case may be particularly egregious, it is not uncommon: Police agencies across Orange County respond to thousands of calls of domestic abuse each year, an alarming statistic that shows no sign of waning, many officials say.

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But in keeping with a recent heightened awareness among law enforcement nationwide, several local departments are launching programs to redefine their approach to family violence.

Some are sending trained volunteers out with officers on domestic abuse calls, steering victims and their children to counseling long before their cases end up in a courtroom. Others have recently begun seeking child endangerment charges against partners who abuse one another in front of their frightened kids.

October is National Domestic Abuse Awareness Month, and a sampling of some of the county’s newer programs highlights the changing attitudes toward what some patrol officers in earlier days might have written off as nothing more than a private family matter.

“For a lot of years, it was thought of as ‘just that family issue,’ [and abusers would be told] ‘Just cool down and take a walk around the block,’ ” said Judith Ann Bambas, director of the Women’s Transitional Living Center’s Walk-In Resource Center.

“With the education coming around it, the officers are beginning to see the layers. They are so much more aware of what is involved, especially the effect on some of the kids.”

Leading the charge is the Westminster Police Department, now in its second month of a nationally funded program to crack down on abusers while offering early intervention for victims and their children.

Officers document the names and ages of all children present at every domestic abuse call, so their schools can be notified of problems and they can be immediately referred to special counseling, said Capt. Andy Hall.

On the enforcement end, Chief James Cook has configured a team similar to the one he founded for a pioneering anti-gang program. A deputy district attorney is assigned full time to the department to handle only domestic violence cases. A domestic violence specialist also works with the team full time.

Family violence, gang violence and substance abuse are some of the leading factors that turn children into law-breaking youth, Hall said. If officers can help a child early, they can cut down on calls for service years from now.

“We explain to the officers, ‘If you can intervene now, you can stop this cycle,’ ” he said at a two-day domestic violence training session for Westminster police officers this week.

The officers--some weary-eyed from a night shift--sat riveted Thursday as a dramatic re-creation of an abusive relationship played on a video monitor. The husband becomes increasingly irate with his wife, beats her, then sobs apologetically and begs forgiveness in what experts call the “honeymoon phase” of the three-part abuse cycle.

“What you don’t get to see here is that in less than 24 hours, he beats her again so badly because she didn’t get dinner on the table on time that she has to go to the hospital,” Bambas told the officers.

“While mom is out of the house recuperating, dad starts abusing the son. And you know what happens next? The son starts abusing his kid sister, who he had previously been protecting.”

In addition to the two-day training sessions for all officers and dispatchers, the Westminster Police Department seeks endangerment charges when abuse occurs in front of children, Hall said.

The Fullerton and Santa Ana police departments have also been seeking such charges, according to police and Jane Shade, deputy district attorney in charge of the recently founded family violence unit in the district attorney’s office.

The La Habra, Fullerton, Santa Ana and Huntington Beach police departments are also training an “emergency response team” of volunteers to ride with officers on domestic violence calls and offer immediate counseling to victims.

And the Sheriff’s Department refers all domestic violence calls to counselors with the nonprofit Community Service Programs, or CSP. Victims are encouraged to call for services even if they do not feel they have a criminal case, said Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Wilkerson.

In the case of Gloria Lopez, who suffered temporary paralysis after the Sept. 10 shooting, police were not privy to the cycle of abuse until it was too late, said Santa Ana Police Investigator David Salceda.

Frank and Gloria started dating in April 1991 and soon married. Everything seemed all right until May 1992, when Gloria became pregnant and the beatings began, Salceda said.

Born Francisco Vicente Lopez, the 25-year-old Lopez frequents gyms and has family members from San Jose to Tijuana. Anyone with information on his whereabouts should call Santa Ana police at (714) 647-5121.

Other local agencies also are seeking help in locating domestic abusers wanted on felony warrants.

* Huntington Beach police are searching for Frank Patrick Saldarelli, 23. Police say Saldarelli beat his 25-year-old wife on Jan. 7 with a wooden souvenir baseball bat, leaving bruises over most of her face and body in a long-standing pattern of assaults.

* Huntington Beach police are searching for Hipolito Ruiz, 29, who also uses the last name of Sosa. Ruiz beat his wife on Sept. 28 using a leather belt with a metal buckle because “there wasn’t any food in the house,” Sgt. Ron Burgess said. Anyone with information on Saldarelli or Ruiz should call Burgess at (714) 536-5947.

* Costa Mesa police are searching for Efrain Gutierrez Torres, 41. Torres is wanted for spousal abuse and rape. The couple separated after a March 30 beating, but one of their children let Torres back into the home on April 17, when he forcibly raped his wife, said Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Tom Boylan. Anyone with information about Torres should call Det. Tim Schennum at (714) 754-5120 or Det. Greg Scott at (714) 754-5197.

* Fullerton police are searching for Hugo Garcia, 24, for allegedly shooting and wounding his estranged, pregnant girlfriend at a stoplight in the 3900 block of Harbor Boulevard. The Nov. 1, 1993 shooting occurred a week after the woman broke up with Garcia, said Sgt. Greg Mayes. Anyone with information should call Fullerton Police Investigator Doug Kennedy at (714) 738-6534.

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Who To Call

Anyone who has been abused and is seeking shelter or counseling services can call the following 24-hour hotlines:

* Human Options: (714) 854-3554

* Women’s Transitional Living Center: (714) 992-1931

* Laura’s House: (714) 498-1511

* Interval House: (714) 891-8121