Church Suit Alleges Illegal Police Search

The Rev. Wiley Drake and his First Southern Baptist Church sued the city of Buena Park and the police chief this week, alleging an illegal search at a church shelter for the homeless.

The lawsuit, filed in Orange County Superior Court, asks at least $100,000 in damages over an incident a year ago, Drake said Wednesday, a day after the suit was filed.

Police Capt. Gary Hicken, a city spokesman, said he could not comment on the suit until attorneys had reviewed it. He said Drake and city lawyers were scheduled to appear today in the 4th District Court of Appeal for a settlement conference on a separate suit the city filed over the shelter.

Drake and the church were convicted and placed on three years’ probation in 1997 for violating building and zoning codes by allowing homeless people to sleep in an enclosed patio behind the main building and to sleep in cars in the church parking lot. Drake has appealed the conviction.

Meanwhile, the church and city have agreed on plans for a new shelter. As many as 52 people may continue sleeping on the patio until the construction is done, a judge ruled in the criminal case. The church, in turn, agreed to allow regular inspections.

The city’s civil case remains outstanding, however. And the church’s lawsuit adds a third case to the tangle.

It alleges that police officers, wanting to search the belongings of an ex-convict who had been staying at the shelter, threatened a security guard on July 1, 1997, and carried out the search without a warrant.

Unknown to Drake, the man was required to register his address with police because he had a sex offense record, the pastor said. He had turned himself in that day, leading to the police follow-up search.

The suit seeks $100,000 compensatory damages from the city. It requests like amounts in punitive damages from Officer Robin Sells, Police Chief Richard M. Tefank and unspecified other defendants.

While declining to comment on the latest action, Hicken said the city still wants a court injunction against the patio shelter to protect itself in case of mishaps and further lawsuits.

The city will continue to work with Drake, he said.

“But as it stands now, if something were to happen, the city would eat it,” Hicken said.