SANTA ANA : Officer Describes Arrest of Homeless

A Santa Ana police officer testified Monday that he arrested one man for discarding a paper airplane and another for tossing a matchstick during last year’s Civic Center sweep in which more than 60 homeless people were arrested for minor violations.

Officer Boudewijn Herter told Municipal Judge B. Tam Nomoto that he believed that arresting people for littering was part of his duties during the police enforcement action that was dubbed Operation Civic Center.

“It’s a violation of the law,” said Herter, a police officer for more than three years.

According to a police report submitted as evidence, Herter wrote that he had witnessed a homeless man throwing a paper airplane to the ground. Herter testified that he alerted an arrest team minutes later to capture the man, identified as Bradford Brown.

Herter also said he arrested another man seen dropping a match after lighting a cigarette.

On Aug. 15, Herter was part of a 23-officer team assigned to the Civic Center to look for criminal activities. The defense contends that the homeless were unfairly targeted in the sweep.

Under questioning from Deputy Dist. Atty. Douglas D. Brannan, Herter testified that none of his supervising officers told him to focus on any particular group in the roundup.

In another situation, the Santa Ana City Council settled a claim Monday made by a homeless city employee who alleged that a police officer punched him in the eye during an unprovoked attack in October, 1989.

Leotis Larry, a 35-year-old parks and recreation employee, said he was beaten by the police officer after he and a friend were stopped at the Civic Center. The beating was witnessed by two other homeless people, according to attorney Christopher B. Mears.

Mears said the city agreed to settle the claim for $7,500. Mears said Larry plans to use the money for a deposit on an apartment.