Raid Victims’ Suit Settled for $775,000

First, the Los Angeles Police Department’s Southwest CRASH unit raided the wrong house--allegedly traumatizing two senior citizens, a baby, a teenage boy and a number of other adults there.

Then the city attorney’s office neglected to file a key motion in its effort to defend the city against the lawsuit brought by the victims of the faulty raid.

As a result, City Council members were told in closed session Friday that they had little choice but to approve a $775,000 settlement to the eight people detained after anti-gang officers miscounted the houses from a street corner in an aerial photograph.

“It’s just money right down the drain,” said Councilman Joel Wachs, who is running for mayor and was the only council member to vote against the settlement.

The raid occurred April 7, 1997, on Orchard Street in South-Central Los Angeles. Climon Hawkins, 68, was home visiting with friends, his daughter and her children when police stormed the house, said attorney Paul deMontesquiou.

“They were shouting at everyone, they were pointing guns at everyone,” deMontesquiou said. “They threw Mr. Hawkins on the ground and stepped on his back. He kept yelling, ‘You’ve got the wrong place!’ ” The police kept telling him to shut up, deMontesquiou said.

Eventually, police checked their search warrant and figured out that they were, in fact, at the wrong house. “The LAPD was intending to do a raid on a crack house two doors down,” deMontesquiou said.

The plaintiffs, claiming soft-tissue injuries and the need for ongoing psychological treatment, took the matter to court. In December, a jury found the city liable for $851,467 in damages.

Arguing that the amount was excessive because of fallout from the Rampart police scandal, city attorneys sought to hammer out a settlement with Hawkins.

“We were lulled into a sense of getting a settlement worked out,” said Chief Assistant City Atty. Thomas Hokinson.

In the midst of negotiations, however, attorneys realized they had run out of time to file an official appeal. The judge, who indicated that he intended to call for a new trial, also “failed to act within 60 days,” Hokinson said.

“They just let the time to file an appeal go by,” said Wachs. “The city attorney just blew it.”

Councilman Mike Feuer, who is running for city attorney, was more forgiving.

“It’s obviously a serious error but performed by an otherwise very skilled and diligent lawyer,” Feuer said.

As for the officers, Feuer said he believed they made an “unintentional error. It was the consequence of being a number off in the address,” he said.

When the jury award was made in December, council members were concerned that the case indicated some “distrust of the Police Department and residual impact of Rampart,” Feuer said. However, he said he now believes the large award was an anomaly. “I haven’t seen further evidence of a similar jury response,” Feuer said.

In his memo to the council, Hokinson warned that the city could owe nearly $950,000 if it did not settle. He told officials that “all the plaintiffs but the infant were handcuffed and put face-down on the floor for a disputed period of time.” He also noted that Hawkins’ house did not match the description of the residence listed on the search warrant.

Hawkins agreed to settle the case for $775,000, deMontesquiou said, in an effort to quickly resolve the matter. The city is required to pay the settlement within 35 days.