Witness who filmed cops beat down suspect gets handwritten offer from cops of $1000 to give up camera and video

Press-Enterprise
Nov. 15, 2005

California
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The videotaped scuffle between narcotics suspect Harold Sykes III and undercover San Bernardino police last year is disturbing in three ways:

1. Officers continued to pummel Sykes after he was subdued.

2. The camera of a witness who recorded the beating was seized.

3. The officers remain on the street 13 months later -- apparently without additional training -- pending discipline.

According to official accounts, on Oct. 5, 2004, police were doing surveillance at a motel known for drug deals when Sykes -- an "extremely muscular," 6-foot-1 ex-con -- drove into the parking lot and knocked on a door.

An officer asked Sykes who he was; Sykes didn't answer and began to walk away.

The officer grabbed his arm, Sykes jerked away, the officer pushed him against the car, Sykes shoved him away and the scuffle was on.

Two officers came to assist, but the 260-pound suspect dragged all three, falling and gashing his head on the car.

Two more officers joined in the fray. By the time Sykes was subdued, he and three officers were smeared with his blood.

An officer noticed a witness in a motel room doorway and saw the man had a camera. The officer asked for ID; he refused.

The officer asked if he'd taken pictures of the scuffle; the man said yes. When he retreated into the room, the officer followed, shoving him on the bed and handcuffing him.

The officer saw a small amount of marijuana and arrested the man for marijuana possession and obstructing an officer, and took the camera as possible evidence of a crime.

Two days later, the witness was told the charges would be dropped and he would get $1,000 if he signed a release giving up the camera and the video.

I spoke to three civil-rights lawyers who found this inappropriate. One called it bribery, another said it was coercive.

Duke University law professor Erwin Chemerinsky said it raises concerns that the police were trying to suppress evidence of their own wrongdoing.

If police were afraid the evidence would be destroyed, they should have gone to court afterward to justify the seizure to a judge, said Ricardo Garcia, ACLU criminal justice director.

Civil-rights lawyer Gigi Gordon said the waiver was highly unusual, since it was handwritten and no police officer's identification number was on it. The $1,000 came from "general liability," implying the city attorney approved it, she said.

City Attorney Jim Penman didn't return a phone call seeking comment. Police Chief Garrett Zimmon couldn't comment about personnel matters.

Police never wanted that video to see the light of day. But a copy was obtained by The Press-Enterprise. In it, officers appear to kick and punch Sykes in the face and stomp on his ankles repeatedly after he was subdued.

Legal analyst Laurie Levenson said the force may not have been excessive, but the officers were ineffectual in their tactics.

I asked Robert Krause, the lawyer representing three of the officers in disciplinary hearings, whether the department has given them additional training on how to subdue large, unruly suspects. He said he wasn't aware of any.

When the disciplinary hearing is held in February, maybe the public will learn what went wrong in this disturbing case.