The county has agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging a sheriff’s deputy used excessive force when he tackled a Laguna Niguel man and his mother, who were hugging in the street.
The tackle was captured on a grainy Orange County Sheriff’s Department video in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day, 2006. The tape showed two deputies brawling with neighbors nearby, as Gabriel Celli and his mother embraced.
That’s when a police car pulled up and Deputy Jason Perez jumped out of the car, rushed toward the mother and son, and tackled them, the video shows. Then the deputy repeatedly punched her son, according to a 2008 story by Register reporter Rachanee Srisavasdi. (Srisavadi’s story also contains copies of police reports from the night, as well as witness statements.)
Celli was later acquitted of resisting arrest charges. And he and his mother sued the county for $10 million. This $200,000 settlement resolves his claim.
Celli’s lawyer, civil rights attorney Jerry Lawrence Steering, was in court when The Watchdog called and could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, sheriff’s spokesman Ryan Burris said an internal investigation of the incident found no wrongdoing. Then in November, the department conducted an additional review in which the deputies involved, executive staff, county counsel and the Office of Independent Review went over all the facts.
Such reviews are now required for any case involving a settlement over $50,000. But if Celli’s incident happened today, that critical review also would have been done immediately under a new policy by Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, Burris said.
“The goal is to see what can be done better next time,” Burris said.
Celli, a real estate agent and loan officer, was 30 at the time of his arrest. Celli and his mother, Nancy Turner, had watched Dick Clark ring in the New Year on TV.
Turner, who was staying the night at her son’s apartment, woke up at 1:30 a.m. to the sounds of someone screaming for help. Celli was already outside watching police scuffle with his neighbor, Kurt Chapman.
This account is from Srisavasdi’s story:
Celli said he asked for the badge number of a deputy who was beating Chapman, and then another deputy struck Celli with a baton.
Authorities say they hit Celli because he “interfered,” and “continually tried to pull Chapman away,” according to one police report.
A deputy radioed Perez for help, asking him to detain Celli.
In his police report, Perez explained why he immediately got out of his car and tackled Celli and his mother.
“Due to the nature of the assistance call by Deputies I felt for officer safety reasons I needed to gain control of Celli immediately,” Perez wrote. “I tackled Celli and the female subject to the ground, immediately releasing the female subject from my grasp.”
The deputy also explained why he punched Celli.
“Celli repeatedly kept trying to roll over onto his back and get up,” Perez continued. “I began giving Celli distraction blows with my hands and knees to keep him from sitting up.”
Pretty costly distraction, we’d say.
