Family Claims Abuse by Officer

It was an unfortunate misunderstanding, according to Cypress police. But to a New Mexico family, it was an abusive traffic stop that shattered a peaceful day at an Orange County mall.

Police and the Quitmeyer family agree on little surrounding the events of June 7, which last week triggered a $3-million claim against the city alleging excessive force by one of its plain-clothes detectives.

But no one disputes that David Quitmeyer was handcuffed at gunpoint in the parking lot of the Block at Orange and--in front of his family--mistakenly accused of driving a stolen car.

And in a rare public admission at a time when several police departments nationally have been on the defensive, Cypress Police Chief John D. Hensley said, “I do not think that [the officer] used good judgment.”

According to the family’s attorney, Cypress Police Officer Robert Joseph Cote also waved his pistol at Quitmeyer’s wife and 4-year-old daughter--which police deny--and ordered them to sit on the curb until Orange police arrived.

Cote accused the family of hitting his unmarked police vehicle in the parking lot, and then of failing to stop. The family denies ever striking Cote’s car, said their attorney, Eduardo M. Madrid.

“The way the officer reacted was excessive,” Madrid said. “It was outrageous.”

Madrid said that the Quitmeyers were taken to Cypress police headquarters for questioning, then eventually released--an allegation that police denied. Despite receiving an apology, the Quitmeyers’ ordeal has left emotional scars, Madrid said.

Police officials dispute the Quitmeyers’ version of events, but do not exonerate the officer entirely.

“Both sides made some mistakes.” Hensley said.

Hensley said the Quitmeyers’ car bumped into a Chevrolet Lumina that Cote was driving while on his way to a police training session in Orange.

The family drove off without realizing what they had done, Hensley said.

Shocked, the eight-year department veteran honked his horn, but David Quitmeyer continued to drive away. Cote noticed that the family’s car had out-of-state plates and suspected it was stolen, Hensley said.

The detective followed the car, and when the family stopped to park, ordered the driver to get out at gunpoint. David Quitmeyer was handcuffed but his wife and daughter sat in the vehicle, Hensley said, adding that the detective only pointed his weapon at David Quitmeyer.

Hensley said the family was never brought to the police station for questioning, and that a supervisor quickly arrived and apologized to the Quitmeyers.

The chief said he wished Cote had handled what he had thought was a hit-and-run differently. Instead of following a possible stolen car alone, the detective should have asked dispatchers to check the vehicle’s license plate, and then waited until Orange police officers arrived, Hensley said.

The detective, he added, could then have approached the Quitmeyers’ car without drawing his weapon, which he needed because he was acting alone and needed protection.

“If he had other officers out there, he would not have needed to pull a gun,” Hensley said.

Cote, who the chief described as a “fine cop,” has talked with training officers about how he could have better handled the situation.

Hensley said that rules governing police personnel prevent him from revealing whether the detective was disciplined over the incident.