Accusations Are Made About Officer in Previous Incidents

Inglewood Police Officer Jeremy Morse has been accused of misconduct in at least six other incidents aside from the videotaped beating of a 16-year-old boy Saturday, according to residents and attorneys.

In some instances the complaints are included in court files, and in one case, the Inglewood Police Department acknowledges an ongoing internal investigation.

In others, residents say they have filed formal complaints or complained informally to police about Morse’s actions, but the department will not comment on those allegations.

John D. Barnett, Morse’s attorney, said he is not surprised that others are making accusations and seeking litigation after the videotaped incident. “People file for money,” he said.

Morse, 24, a three-year veteran of the department, was relieved of duty Monday after the repeated broadcast of the videotape showing him slamming Donovan Jackson against a police car and punching him in the face.

Attorneys for Jackson and his father, Coby Chavis, filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday in Los Angeles alleging civil rights violations in the encounter.

Sgt. Ron Ragan, a spokesman for the Police Department, acknowledged that Morse is under investigation for a separate incident involving Neilson Williams, 32, of Inglewood, but he would not confirm whether the department has received additional complaints.

Williams, who counsels gang members for the organization Unity One, filed a complaint with the department last month alleging that Morse and several other officers beat him as he was leaving a picnic at Ashwood Park in Inglewood on June 23.

“They just basically beat me to a pulp,” Williams said. “They almost beat me to death.”

His attorney, Saddie Johns, said Williams was not arrested or cited in the incident. Johns said she plans to file a civil lawsuit this week.

Another federal civil rights lawsuit against Inglewood police was filed Wednesday by attorneys for Roberto Francisco Willis, 31, and Lance Elliot Eaton, 32, who were arrested by Morse.

The suit alleges that Morse and Officer Bijan Darvish struck them during their arrests on drug charges Jan. 11 and that a supervisor failed to do anything about it.

The lawsuit also alleges that Morse struck Willis in the mouth and knocked out his two front teeth, and that Darvish struck Eaton twice in the body.

“The videotaped assault is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this department and these officers,” said Jorge Gonzalez, an attorney for the men.

On Jan. 11, Willis and Eaton were at a friend’s apartment on Lawrence Street about 9 p.m. when four officers knocked on the door demanding entry and entered the apartment, the suit alleges.

In interviews Wednesday, both men said they were hit after being handcuffed.

Willis and Eaton complained to the watch commander about the treatment, but no action was taken against the officers, according to the suit.

Both men pleaded no contest to drug possession charges.

Gonzalez delivered a letter to Inglewood Mayor Roosevelt Dorn on Wednesday alleging that the Police Department has an unwritten policy that encourages the use of violence and asking the mayor to call for federal charges against the officers.

A public defender in a criminal case stemming from the same arrest said he was given information from the city of Inglewood about two other misconduct allegations against Morse.

But the attorney provided no information other than the names of those making the complaints and the dates of the incidents.

In addition, two other residents say they have informally complained to police about Morse:

* Akkilah Artiga, 22, of Inglewood said in an interview that she was standing outside a New Year’s Eve party when Morse struck her in the back with a baton as police broke up a crowd.

Artiga, who was pregnant at the time, said she spoke to a lieutenant about the alleged assault but did not file a formal complaint.

* J. Mitchell Streinbrecher said Morse cursed and threatened him April 26, 2001. Streinbrecher, a freelance journalist, said he was covering a fire at Inglewood’s Regent Hotel in the early morning hours when Morse told him to leave.

In the ensuing quarrel, he said, Morse used obscenities, then threatened him.

Streinbrecher said he filed a complaint with the department.

Times staff writer Steve Berry contributed to this report.