U.S. Grand Jury Reopens 1986 Beating Probe

In the first civil rights case involving allegations of Los Angeles police brutality since the Rodney G. King incident, a federal grand jury is investigating whether two police officers used excessive force in beating and kicking two Latino teen-agers, one of whom suffered a fractured skull, The Times has learned.

The case was said to have been all but closed until the King beating occurred. But sources said government prosecutors are now vigorously pursuing the grand jury probe into Officer Dana P. Hansen and Sgt. Alan E. Sorkness, and that Hansen has been advised that criminal indictments against him are forthcoming.

The federal action follows a determination by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office not to file criminal charges against the officers, and a decision by Police Chief Daryl F. Gates to suspend Hansen for 15 days. Sorkness was cleared by the department of any wrongdoing and has since been promoted to sergeant.

After the King beating March 3, U.S. Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh ordered a massive federal probe into 15,000 complaints of police abuse here and around the country. FBI agents subsequently began interviewing scores of LAPD officers and reviewing previous citizens’ complaints and lawsuits alleging police brutality.

Hansen, 35, who works in Metro Division, could not be reached for comment. But Barry Levin, an attorney who has been asked to represent the 13-year veteran officer, said Hansen has been notified that “they’re going to indict him” in the next two weeks.

“There’s no question about it,” Levin said in arguing that the case took on a heightened significance in the wake of the King incident. “The U.S. attorney wants to pick at the LAPD’s carcass. They’re reviewing all of the cases and this is the best one they could find.”

Sorkness, a 17-year veteran who works in Central Division, said Wednesday that his attorney recently notified him that while he probably will not be charged, he should expect an indictment against Hansen.

Sorkness, 37, said he testified to the grand jury before the King beating occurred. At that time, he said: “The grand jury wasn’t too excited about this. It looked like the whole thing kind of fell apart. I thought the whole thing was forgotten about.

“Then Rodney King happened and they decided to take a whole new look at it.”

Federal officials declined Wednesday to discuss the matter.

“Our policy is not to confirm or deny” the status of grand jury proceedings, said Carole Levitzky, a spokeswoman in the U.S. attorney’s office here.

“I can’t discuss it at all unless they return some indictments,” added Amy Casner, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice civil rights branch in Washington. “We’re not even supposed to discuss the existence of a grand jury.”

Levin said the grand jury must make a decision on the case by the end of next month, when the five-year statute of limitations runs out on the August, 1986, case.

The incident began when the officers responded to a stolen car call in the 14600 block of Blythe Street in Van Nuys. It ended with Jesus M. Vidalis, 17, suffering up to a dozen baton blows, including one to the back of the head, and Raul Burgara, 15, being struck in the left elbow.

The officers believed the youths were in a stolen car and they followed them to a parking structure, where the teen-agers tried to hide. Burgara was arrested after he bolted from beneath the car.

An altercation ensued and the youths later admitted guilt on a charge of disturbing the peace.

As many as 11 people witnessed the incident. They gave conflicting statements to authorities, with some contending that Vidalis was beaten with the batons even after he was handcuffed.

In September, 1987, the district attorney’s office declined to file charges against the officers, noting that there was “insufficient evidence to prove a crime occurred.”

“Based on the information available to this office, it is believed we cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that specific officers used excessive force,” the district attorney’s office wrote in its report explaining why it was rejecting the case for prosecution.

The report stated that after the youths were cornered by the officers in a parking lot, Hansen struck Burgara on his left elbow with his baton when the youth attempted to flee. Burgara was then taken into custody by Sorkness.

The officers believed Vidalis also would try to run, the report said.

“Officer Hansen utilized an overhand power stroke with his baton and administered one blow to halt Vidalis’ flight,” the report said. “This blow impacted Vidalis’ upper back with no apparent effect.

“Officer Hansen stated that he intended to strike a second blow to Vidalis’ right shoulder area. However, Vidalis turned his upper torso, causing the second blow to impact the back of Vidalis’ head. The result of this blow apparently had no effect as Vidalis continued to run.”

Hansen hit Vidalis about nine more times, the report said, including several blows to the boy’s legs as he kicked both officers.

It was the blow to the head that was seen as the most crucial. The report said the head shot “obviously was excessive,” but added that it “may have been inadvertent.”

Sorkness recalled it differently. “I never saw the suspect get hit in the head,” he said. “I saw Hansen hit the kids, but I never saw a blow to the head.”

Sorkness also denied that he used his nightstick. “When I jumped out of my car, I left my baton in the car,” he said. “Looking back, I don’t know whether it was God or who protecting me.”

The youths were taken to the Van Nuys police station, where Vidalis “collapsed and began convulsing,” the report stated. He was then taken to Valley Receiving Hospital, “where he was treated for a depressed skull fracture.”

Photographs showed Vidalis with about six “baton-caused bruises” on his back and lower legs. The photos also revealed numerous shoe prints on his clothing--signs that Vidalis was kicked.

In interviews, 11 witnesses--some of whom are related to Vidalis--recalled the youths being struck while handcuffed. A woman identified in the district attorney’s report only as Maria Salas, for instance, told investigators with the district attorney’s office that at one point, Vidalis “fell to the ground and while still handcuffed, both officers hit him repeatedly.”

“She stated that the officers struck Vidalis in the head with their batons just before walking him out to the police car,” the report said.

Angela Salas said the officers “pulled Vidalis out from under the truck, handcuffed him and continued to hit him with their batons,” according to the report.

Vidalis and Burgara could not be located by The Times. But they did discuss the altercation with the district attorney’s office.

“He indicated that they were both hitting him with their batons on his legs, back and once on the head,” the district attorney’s report said of Vidalis. “From that point on, he was unclear as to what occurred.”

Burgara said in the report that the officers handcuffed his friend, “threw him on top of the car and hit him once or twice more with their batons.” Burgara added that one of the officers slapped Vidalis several times in the police car.

The report also pointed out that while both Hansen and Sorkness are 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weigh 215 pounds each, Vidalis is 5 feet, 8 inches, and 170 pounds, and Burgara is 5 feet tall and weighs 90 pounds.

Since the altercation, the youths have filed a lawsuit against the city.

For Hansen, the case is another in a series of controversial incidents in which he has been involved.

In 1983, he shot and killed a 15-year-old boy who was allegedly pointing a sawed-off shotgun at a group of youths. The district attorney’s office later concluded that “deadly force was clearly reasonable.”

In another case, a Van Nuys woman was awarded $112,000 in 1986 by a Burbank Superior Court jury that determined she had been beaten by Hansen and another officer after her arrest on suspicion of drunk driving.

In another King-related development, the LAPD has begun making recommendations for disciplining some of the 17 officers who were present at the scene but did not intervene.

According to a lawyer for the officers, at least two of them--both rookies on probation--have been notified that the department wants to fire them. Attorney Diane Marchant said that the department has recommended a five-day suspension for another rookie officer, and has recommended that a fourth rookie be cleared.

Marchant also said two veteran officers have been notified that they face penalties serious enough to warrant disciplinary hearings.