San Diego

A Brooklyn Street resident who witnessed the 1985 confrontation between Sagon Penn and two police officers testified Thursday that both officers beat Penn before he shot them.

Kaye Specks, the 13th witness in Penn’s retrial, said she saw Penn hand something to one officer, then saw Penn walk away from the officer toward his truck.

Marking the location on a chart, Specks put Penn about 10 feet nearer the street than other witnesses have. She placed Penn and Police Agent Donovan Jacobs about 10 feet away from the patrol car of Police Agent Thomas Riggs, where civilian ride-along Sarah Pina-Ruiz has testified that she watched the shootings.

“They just kept beating on him, and it wasn’t necessary,” Specks said, adding that Jacobs tried to handcuff Penn while sitting on him with his knee on his chest.

“When he wouldn’t turn over, they kept beating on him,” she said.

Specks said that Riggs kicked Penn repeatedly.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Wayne Mayer told her that the tape recording of her call to police will be played when she continues her testimony Friday morning.

Penn, 25, is charged with manslaughter, attempted murder, attempted manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon. He was acquitted of murder charges in an earlier trial, but the jury was hung on the lesser charges.