City to pay $10K in police lawsuit
-- Greg Risling
The city of Newport Beach will pay $10,000 to an Orange County deputy
district attorney who allege police used excessive force in an incident
at a bar two years ago.
The settlement was reached just before the civil trial was scheduled to
begin. Prosecutor Edward Flores claims he was assaulted by Newport Beach
police because he is Latino.
Flores was walking behind a white, female prosecutor on Newport Boulevard
on Aug. 14, 1998, when two police officers approached him, reportedly on
suspicion of public drunkenness. One of the officers said he would be
placed under arrest.
Flores, who admitted he had been drinking, didn’t immediately comply
while officers tried to put handcuffs on him. Flores said he was put in a
choke hold and doused with pepper spray.
Flores initially sought $600,000 for false arrest, civil rights
violations and excessive force. In the end, the 35-year-old prosecutor
settled on a lesser amount.
Attorney Peter Ferguson, who represented the city, believed the officers
would have prevailed if the jury heard all of the evidence. He said the
outcome was good for both the police department and the district
attorney’s office.
“They will continue to have a good working relationship with each other,”
he said.
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