SIMI VALLEY : Couple Sue Officers, City After Arrest

A Simi Valley pool cleaner who claims that he still needs nose surgery after a rough arrest in August has filed a $1-million civil rights lawsuit in federal court against the city and two police officers.

Attorneys for Lloyd Landman and his wife, Nancy Landman, filed the suit Nov. 30 in U. S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleging that police violated their civil rights during the arrest.

City Atty. John Torrance and Sgt. Mike King, a police spokesman, has declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Lloyd Landman was cited for battery Aug. 15 after his former son-in-law claimed that Landman spit on him during an argument, the suit says.

The suit alleges that Officer Todd Berg cuffed Landman’s hands behind his back, then shoved Landman face-down onto the concrete, partially knocking him out.

Nancy Landman arrived during the arrest and tried to question an officer identified in the suit only as Officer Ward. He ordered her inside and threatened to arrest her, the suit charges.

The experience caused her fear and trauma that required her to miss two weeks of work and to see a professional counselor, according to her lawyer, Diane Marchant.

Meanwhile, Berg and Ward put restraints on Landman’s legs and put him face-down in the back seat of Berg’s police car, the suit says. They then drove him to Simi Valley Hospital for treatment of his injuries.

While Landman was handcuffed to a bed, the suit alleges, Berg further roughed him up, injuring Landman’s cuffed left wrist, and falsely accused him of being a convicted child molester.

Berg cited Landman for misdemeanor battery, a charge that eventually was dropped. But police refiled the charge 10 days later, the suit alleges, because the Landmans had filed a legal claim against the city over the arrest.

The Landmans’ lawsuit also alleges that the city uses unconstitutional police policies and procedures that are designed to enhance its reputation as one of the safest cities of its size in the nation.

Berg left the department in November for undisclosed reasons, King said. He declined to fully identify the other officer involved.

Meanwhile, Lloyd Landman needs reconstructive nose surgery, which he cannot afford, Marchant said.