Sgt. LeMoss #114 SCPD breaks arm of 60 year old disabled woman without cause

Officer: Sgt. Christian LeMoss badge # 114
Charge: excessive force, perjury
Date: May 9th, 2008
Location: Three Trees parking lot on W. Cliff Dr., Santa Cruz


Donna Deiss Describes Her Interaction with SCPD Sergeant Christian LeMoss:

"Sgt. Christian LeMoss badge # 114 of the Santa Cruz PD appeared suddenly at Lot A on West Cliff Drive wearing all black in an unmarked car ~5:30 PM on Friday May 9 in front of a random group of homeless and others. He said he wanted to talk to everyone and his attitude was extremely repugnant and mean. I am a friend to the kids that hang out here and try to be a good friend and role model as this lot has been the last place of refuge for many youth who have been routinely detained and harassed in downtown Santa Cruz. I am 60 years old and a permanently disabled marine pipefitter, 5'2". My disabilities include lower back, hip surgery 1 and a half years ago, chronic depression, arthritis and bone spurs in my neck and left knee, as well as a broken left femur. I am known as an activist in the Santa Cruz community regarding tenants rights and homelessness.

"Two SCPD had showed up the morning before with complaints about dogs off leach etc. none of which have anything to do with me. I went to my RV to put sugar in a half paper cup of lukewarm coffee. I grabbed the slanted handicap grabbar on the right side of my doorwary as the step is missing and it takes strenth to step inside as it is about three feet up. As I reached behind me to close the door, Sgt LeMoss pinched and deliberately broke my upper right arm twisting my arm behind my back and throwing me out of the RV against the car parked next to me, spilling coffee on my skin, tank top, the [car] parked next to me and on my RV. He put me in handcuffs although I screamed my arm was broken, but he threw me onto the blacktop and put his boot on my chest swinging his billy club and hitting me while threatening all others from helping me with his billy club. I screamed for 20 or 30 minutes before anyone would call 911 and was taken to Watsonville Hospital where x-rays clearly show a fracture of the top of the right humerus bone. After 5 days the bruises are still dark purple and I am scheduled to see an orthopedic surgeon for surgery tomorrow.

"First the other 6 cops who arrived after I was already in handcuffs said there was an anonymous tip that people were smoking pot outside in the lot. Secondly SCPD said it was a drug sting. NO marijuana or other drugs were found. Many showed their medical marijuana cards and IDs as is routinely done by officers downtown.Never has an entire group of people who happen to be in a particular lot at the beach. I am charged with resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and marijuana although nothing was found."

The Santa Cruz Police Department had issued a press release on the date of the incident in which they claimed "When the officer attempted to detain Ms. Deiss she threw a cup of hot liquid onto his face. Despite being burned, the officer was able to control and eventually take Ms. Deiss into custody ." Deiss claims the officer never properly detained her, was not in uniform, did not identify himself as a police officer, and had no reason to detain her, much less grab her violently, spin her onto a parked car, cuff her, then throw her on the ground breaking her arm. The cup of coffee she had been holding in her left hand spilled everywhere including on Ms. Deiss. No marijuana was found on Ms. Deiss at the time of her arrest.

Donna Deiss has had all charges but one dropped. She faced a single charge of 148 (a) PC of resisting arrest. Misdemeanor charges of assault on a police officer and possession of marijuana have been dropped without explanation. Deiss accepted a plea deal of community service on the lone remaining charge of 'resisting arrest.'

When police assault and batter someone, it is standard procedure for the police and the DA to charge the victim with "battery on an officer" and "resisting arrest" to justify the excessive force.

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Posted on Friday, May 09, 2008 1 comments
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UCSC Police Pepper Spray and Beat Students Involved in Tree-Sit Demonstration

Officers: Various UCSC Police Officers
Charge: excessive force, police brutality, civil rights violation
Date: November 7th, 2007
Location: Science Hill, UC Santa Cruz

From bradleystuart.net:

Early in the morning of Wednesday, November 7th, 2007, activists opposed to UC Santa Cruz’s Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) launched a tree-sit in redwoods near Science Hill. UCSC plans to develop the occupied site into a new Biomedical Sciences Facility.

One person was arrested by UC police early in the morning. Police surrounded the site, where at least 4 activists were 50 feet up redwood trees. A scheduled rally and march that began at 11am drew hundreds of supporters to the site. A tense standoff with police commenced, as supporters attempted to get close enough to the trees to send up supplies. Police pepper sprayed the crowd and at least four people were arrested.


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Posted on Wednesday, November 07, 2007 0 comments
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Homophobic Police Assault In Santa Cruz

Officer: SCPD Officer Dan Brierley
Charge: excessive force, harassment
Date: April 25, 2006
Location: Pacific Ave & Church, Santa Cruz


Eyewitness account of the assault and false arrest carried out against Shane (Tammy) Maxfield by Santa Cruz Police Officer Dan Brierley:

"I am a witness in the case of Shane (Tammy) Maxfield, case #065-04163. Shane was handcuffed and forced to sit down against the chainlink fence on Pacific Ave/Church for [obstructing] traffic. He was actually helping a friend and another witness, David Bliss jump David's battery to move his van out of the handicapped space.

The officer [later identified as SCPD Officer Dan Brierley] refused to give me his name and badge number. I begged him twice not to arrest Shane as he is severely ill with AIDS and has just started a dibilitating HIV cocktail of Trevada and Sustiva. He laughed at me and said "That's not gonna happen." I told him Shane might die of stress in jail and he guffawed and shrugged me off.

It was apparent the officer realized he hadn't charged Shane with anything yet as he pulled Shane up by his coat, slammed him against the fence and forced the top of Shane's head to barely touch him. He said: "Now I've got you for battery." This was in full public view of at least 40 witnesses at 1 PM on April 25,2006. Before the sergeant could take stories from witnesses Shane was put in the police car and taken to jail. His arraignment is May 15, 2006. The jail personnel were sympathetic and thought the whole incident ridiculous"

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Posted on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 0 comments
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Family of Santa Cruz man who died in jail settles with county for $3 million

Officer: Sheriff Steve Robbins and several County Jail correctional officers
Charge: excessive force, police brutality, wrongful death
Date: September 2005
Location: Santa Cruz County Jail, Santa Cruz

From the Santa Cruz Sentinel (now deleted):

SANTA CRUZ -- The family of a man who died in County Jail in September 2005 could receive $3 million in compensation from the county, according to a tentative settlement reached in federal court Thursday.

The agreement also requires the county to alter the death certificate of David Anthony Cross and send a written apology to the Cross family, said Andrew Schwartz, one of the attorneys representing the family. The county Board of Supervisors could be asked to approve the settlement as soon as Tuesday.

The civil suit was set for trial in early May.

"l think both sides realized it was in their best interest" to end the case, Schwartz said. "Everybody involved in this incident feels terrible about it, both sides. The litigation was ditticult because of the subject matter. Somebody died."

Sheriffs Sgt Fred Plageman declined to discuss the case Friday.

"The matter is still under litigation and it is inappropriate for me to comment at this time," he said.

Cross, 44, of Santa Cruz lost consciousness during a struggle with jail deputies, who were trying to restrain him after he began banging his head on his cell door and thrashing on the floor.

Court documents show during the altercation, Cross repeatedly screamed "l cant breathe" and "l'm going to die."

He stopped breathing as he was being restrained and was pronounced dead at Dominican Hospital the next evening.

County coroner Dr. Richard lvlason ruled his death accidental and a subsequent investigation by the District Attorneys Office concluded the correctional officers involved did not commit any criminal acts.

Information presented to the court by the county also states that Cross was a habitual drug and alcohol user whose own mother had described as being on "a self-destruct mission for many years." He had been arrested numerous times between 1993 and 2005 for alcohol and methamphetamine abuse, theft and violence, according to court documents. He was jailed on Sept. 1 -- the day of the struggle -- tor domestic violence and vandalism charges.

Cross’ parents, brother and daughter laterfiled a wrongful death suit against the county, Sheriff Steve Robbins and several County Jail correctional officers and medical personnel that alleged their conduct was "malicious, wanton and oppressive."

In this article in which a civil case has concluded that the Santa Cruz Sheriffs are implicated in the wrongful death of a man, note the typical attempt at justification of violence: The Sentinel and the Sheriffs attempt to blame the man for his own death at their hands, as well as portray him as a violent and self-destructive drug and alcohol offender.

In an article about a man's wrongful death, this sentence particularly stands out: "Cross was a habitual drug and alcohol user whose own mother had described as being on a self-destruct mission for many years."

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Posted on Thursday, September 15, 2005 0 comments
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SCPD and UCSC Police Brutally Break Up Peaceful Tent U Gathering

Officers: Various SCPD and UCSC officers
Charge: excessive force, police brutality
Date: April 19th, 2005
Location: Base of UCSC campus Santa Cruz

In the wee hours of April 19, University of California at Santa Cruz officials sent 30 cops to strangle, drag, and arrest nonviolent Tent University students for unlawful assembly. After 19 students were arrested, Elizabeth Irwin, the public relations representative for the UCSC administration, tried to explain the actions of university officials by saying: "We care about the safety of our students very much."

Below is a video of the event and the assault by the police.


The arrest of 19 protesters at Tent University Santa Cruz occurred after 90 students sat down together in a tent, linked arms and refused to leave after the 8 p.m. "free speech" time had ended.

Police ripped down several tents which had been assembled, including one with two small children still inside. UCSC students were shocked by the show of force and institutionalized violence as a response to their setting up of tents.

Students who organized the Tent University said their goals were a better and more humanized education, greater respect for free speech at the university, more democracy and dialogue between UCSC students and administration, and the rebuilding of humanities programs. Students demanded that the administration address the lack of diversity on campus and low wages of university workers.


Though the US administration refused to give permission for participants to camp, Tent U delegates voted to stay the night in tents at the base of campus in violation of the University's camping ordinance. "If this is what homeless people face every night, we can do this for one night," one student declared.

Liz Irwin, UCSC Spokesperson, tried to justify how the decision was made to send in 30 cops in riot gear to arrest 19 students for sitting on the ground in a tent at night. "So the final decision was made by the senior administration and it was made with the understanding that there would be every precaution taken for safety," she said.

She blamed the students for escalating the situation, saying, "there seemed an intensive interest in accelerating on the part of the students."

Faced with rows of police in riot gear, dozens of students locked arms and sat on the ground under the "Nome," the biggest tent raised at Tent University. Police with riot helmets and blue latex gloves systematically pressed on pain compliance points, and squeezed arms and thighs in an effort to cause enough pain to cause the students to lose their grip on each other.


Nearly 90 students were locked on the ground, and adhered to the discipline of the civil rights protesters trained by Martin Luther King Jr. Committed to nonviolent resistance, no student raised a hand against any officer. None of the 19 arrested (17 UCSC students and two others, age 20 and 21) were charged with assault on a police officer, an impressive fact considering it doesn't take much for police to concoct such a charge at a protest like this.

Officer "M. McDonald" was seen jabbing people with his baton

SCPD Officer Mark Eveleth struck protesters in the face with 
a club according to the victim and several witnesses.

After two non-stop hours of the police removing students one by one for arrest, only 19 had been taken into custody. Dozens more remained on the ground, arms locked, resisting removal by police. It was clear the police did not have the manpower to arrest everyone. The UCSC administration called off the police. The students had won.

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Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2005 0 comments
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Citizen's Police Review Board Gets Dismantled

Officer: SCPD, City Council
Charge: dismantling citizen's police review
Date: March 22, 2003
Location: City Council Chambers, Santa Cruz

From the Santa Cruz Metro (now the Santa Cruz Weekly) February 5, 2003:

The Final Fig Leaf Falls

Last week, the Santa Cruz City Council whacked the Citizen Police Review Board in a 7-0 vote that left local progressives worrying what political direction our town is headed.

"This does not bode well for progressive politics," said ex-Mayor Chris Krohn. "Nowhere that I know of is citizen review going away. Citizens want someone to be there, besides the police, if they have a complaint."

Formed in 1994 to handle allegations of police misconduct, the CPRB agreed in over 90 percent of cases with the findings of the police, which led to its own supporters calling it "a fig leaf" that was "structured to be a rubber stamp."

And while SCPD Chief Steve Belcher claimed that serious discipline is typically not the result of citizen complaint but issues that police supervisors bring up, CPRB chair (now in exile) Mark Halfmoon complained that the city never gave the board any power to seriously address police abuse.

At last week's council meeting, a suited Krohn showed up to read from a letter also signed by Celia Scott, Ben Rice, Bernice Belton, Jeffrey Smedberg, Ann Simonton, Marvin Kaplan, Sandy Brown and John Malkin.

"The current auditor model now before the city council has not been sufficiently assessed by the greater Santa Cruz community. If we are to move to a different model of police review, it must be a community-based model which offers ample opportunities for our residents to interface in that dialogue," Krohn read.

An emotional Halfmoon said he felt insulted and disrespected that the council had not met with CPRB members or returned calls before the cuts--a situation for which the council apologized profusely.

But they did not respond to Halfmoon's suggestion that butchering the CPRB was a racially motivated move (he and vice chair Brent Fouse are both black, which is a first in CPRB history), though Mayor Emily Reilly later clarified that the push to disband the board predated Halfmoon's membership.

"We've been talking since 2000 about changing the board to some other form, and I'm encouraging CPRB members to continue giving me perspectives and information on what would work," said Reilly, adding that the model that will replace the board is still in transition.

"We have rescinded the ordinance about citizen review, which is different from community oversight, but there is definitely a need for the council to remain involved with police policy."

One frequent criticism of the CPRB was that it was inundated with "frivolous complaints," but as a freshly executed Halfmoon told Nüz, "A complaint, by nature, can't be frivolous. You need to hear it out to assess whether it merits more attention."

Ex-CPRB member Dan Alper agrees.

"For the person the situation happened to, the complaint is serious. The person the city has chosen as auditor, Bob Aarenson, is a good guy, but as an MIT grad and Stanford lawyer, is he going to be sensitive to the people of Santa Cruz?"

Reilly hopes the City Council will become the CPRB's new ear.
"That's why we are calling it an independent auditor/City Council model at this point. If people have a complaint, they need to make it formally, but the city can do a better job of encouraging people to give feedback. I call that customer service," she says.

But ex-CPRB chair John Malkin, who was instrumental in creating the board nine years ago, believes "progressives have lost a round in a political battle with people who are armed and command 30 percent of the city's total budget. The police never wanted this board. Now they have succeeded in making it not exist. Had the board been seen as [a] necessity, ways would have been found to fund it."

As for the budget, whacking the CPRB saves $60,000, with $30,000 of expenses retained to pay auditor Aarenson. An estimated $15,000 in police overtime for the CPRB has not yet been formally cut.

And this is just round one of the budget cuts ...

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Posted on Saturday, March 22, 2003 0 comments
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