Assault Case Award of $195,000 Advised

A 42-year-old Antelope Valley woman and her teenage son who were assaulted by an off-duty sheriff’s deputy should be awarded $195,000 in damages, a Los Angeles County panel recommended Monday.

If the Board of Supervisors agrees to pay the claim at its meeting Oct. 5, it will be the second time in 18 months that the county has paid settlements to residents who say they have been brutalized by the deputy, Scott Seeman.

In the most recent case, the county claims board said that a jury would probably find that Laurie Shepherd and her 18-year-old son, Jeremy, suffered excessive force at the hands of Seeman, whose sister lives next door to the Shepherds and had complained that they were too noisy.

On June 28, 1995, Seeman, who was not in uniform, confronted Jeremy Shepherd in the front yard of the Shepherd home as the teen-ager was taking out the trash, according to claims board documents and the Shepherds’ attorney.

The deputy, who identified himself as a police officer, “approached [Jeremy Shepherd] to discuss an on-going loud music problem that was troubling his next-door neighbor, who was the sister of the off-duty officer,” according to claims board documents.

When Jeremy Shepherd shouted at him, the deputy “struck Jeremy Shepherd in the face and took him to the ground,” according to the claims board.

Laurie Shepherd came out of the house and demanded to know what was going on, and the deputy “struck her in the face with the palm of his hand,” the documents said.

The son pulled away from the deputy and he and his mother ran into their home. Shortly after, they were arrested by other sheriff’s deputies.

Jeremy Shepherd was acquitted of charges of battery on a peace officer, and a jury deadlocked on charges that both mother and son were interfering with a police officer in the performance of his duties.

A Sheriff’s Department internal investigation found that Seeman had not used excessive force against the Shepherds, but Nancy Singer, chairwoman of the claims board, said the panel believed that a jury would find otherwise.

If the matter were to proceed to trial, Singer said, it would be likely to cost the county $460,000 in damages and attorney fees.

In April 1996, the county paid $400,000 to a Torrance man who was shot five times by Seeman. In that case, Seeman was not disciplined and the Sheriff’s Department investigation cleared him of wrongdoing.

Singer said Seeman was currently receiving “additional training.” The Sheriff’s Department did not comment on the case Monday.