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Published on 08/21/1995 All articles from this issue

Police chief orders internal review of alleged beating incident

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

A Mountain View man filed a complaint against the Los Altos Police Aug. 13 claiming that when he was stopped for speeding July 22 the police used excessive force.

An internal investigation began Aug. 15, said Los Altos Police Chief Lucy Carlton. She also called in the FBI and the Investigations Unit of the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office to conduct separate investigations.

"We will see if there were any violations of our use-of-force policy. And we will determine if the force used was excessive or within the legal and departmental parameters," Carlton said.

At the Los Altos City Council meeting Aug. 15, Eric Hauser, 28, handed out copies of the police report regarding his father, Hugo Hauser, 66, and information about the use of pepper spray in law enforcement.

On July 22, at 4:44 p.m., a Los Altos Police officer stopped Hugo Hauser, 66, for traveling 50 mph in a 35 mph zone at the corner of Foothill Expressway near Magdalena Avenue.

The driver was hostile, he threatened the officer, and he spit, said Los Altos Police Capt. Jerry Little. The man opened the car door and began swinging at the officer.

Then the officer used a pepper spray on Hugo Hauser, removed his baton and ordered Hauser to the ground.

Hauser advanced on the officer, the officer backed up to the edge of traffic.

"After he (Hauser) refused my final command, I struck him on the left knee with my baton," the officer wrote in the police report.

Hauser continued advancing and slapping the officer's arms and shoulders. The officer struck Hauser again. Hauser "attempted to remove my baton," and the officer repeated the pepper spray.

When Hauser turned away, "I applied a leg-sweep take-down" with the baton, the officer wrote.

Los Altos resident Robert Curlee, 48, stopped to help the officer. He saw Hauser bend over to retrieve his eyeglasses.

"At that point, the officer rushed at the suspect and used bodily force against Hauser's back as he was bent over, driving Hauser directly to the ground," Curlee said in a police report on July 24. Hauser's head hit the pavement because he didn't get his hands or arms up to break the fall.

A second officer arrived.

"I saw Hauser lying face down. There was blood on the ground and Hauser's face," the second officer wrote. Hauser continued to yell and struggle.

The second officer said Hauser repeatedly stated, "He hit me first, I just spit at him."

The District Attorney's Office has filed charges against Hugo Hauser for resisting arrest, assault on a peace officer and attempting to remove an officer's weapon (the baton), Capt. Jerry Little said.

Eric Hauser has been standing on the corner of Magdalena and Foothill Expressway from 5 to 6 p.m., holding a poster asking for witnesses to come forward. He has also distributed fliers around Los Altos alleging he father was "beaten with a baton numerous times ... by an officer of the Los Altos Police Dept."

A member of the Los Altos Police Department has been assigned to the internal investigation. This officer has had special training in internal investigations from Peace Officer Standards and Training.

During the three-to-four weeks of the investigation, the officer reviews all witnesses and all documents, Carlton said.

"We are investigating any inconsistencies," she said, between what the officer involved said and what witnesses report.

Within 30 days of the completion of the investigation, state law requires the findings be released to the people filing the complaint. No personnel actions, if any, are disclosed.

In the past year, the Los Altos Police Department has done four internal investigations.

"They aren't always generated by a citizen complaint. They may be generated inside the department by someone who saw something," Carlton said.

"I'm confident in the system and that we will find the truth."

City Manager Dianne Gershuny asked Carlton to do an investigation even before Hauser filed a complaint.

"That's why I hired a police chief like Lucy," Gershuny said. "I knew she would maintain the department's ethic of treating people with dignity and restraint."