Hermosa Beach man in Taser incident gets $130,000
The city has agreed to pay $130,000 to settle the claim of a man who says Hermosa police zapped him with a Taser and struck him with a baton or a flashlight in a parking lot behind the downtown Bank of America building.
The city admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement with Brian Seidensticker.
The claim for damages by Brian Seidensticker alleged that he was assaulted, without warning and from behind, by the officers. The settlement forestalls a lawsuit that could otherwise have arisen from the claim.
Seidensticker’s attorney,Tom Beck, said his client was on his way to get his bicycle when he ran past police who had responded to the apparent beating of another person, when Seidensticker was Tasered once in the back and once in the back of his head, causing him to fall to the ground, where he received the blow.
“My guy had nothing to do with” the beating, Beck said. He said Seindensticker sustained bone fractures in his face.
Seidensticker later was convicted of having an open container of alcohol and littering, and was fined $1,400 for the infractions.
Commissioner Steven L. Berman handed down the decision in February 2010, following two half-days of trial with eight witnesses, said attorney Damian Capozzola, who prosecuted the case for the city.
Capozzola said Seidensticker was holding an open beer bottle and arguing with another man when Hermosa Beach Police Officer Nick Garcia came upon him. Garcia was looking for a suspect in an assault that had occurred nearby, and paused to break up the argument and tell Seidensticker to pour out his beer, Capozzola said.
Seidensticker threw down the beer bottle, breaking it, and ran, with Garcia following him, Capozzola said. Seidensticker ran past the scene of the assault, where police and firefighters were aiding the victim and talking to witnesses, when Officer Everett Faulk zapped him with the Taser, thinking Garcia was chasing their assault suspect, Capozzola said.