Man claims officer choked, injured him

A Huntington Beach resident has filed a claim against the city alleging that a Huntington Beach police officer threw him to the ground and choked him until he was unconscious.

In the claim, which was filed Wednesday and processed by the city Thursday, Kevin Anastasi alleges the police officer violated his civil rights, failed to follow departmental policy, misrepresented the facts, didn’t properly investigate a situation and lied, mislead and coerced witnesses after he called 911. Anastasi is requesting an unknown amount of more than $10,000 in damages.

Anastasi called emergency services after seeing two aggressive and out-of-control pit bulls trying to break into his house through a screen window in April, according to the claim. The dogs went away, but two police officers arrived at the scene, and one called Anastasi a “fool” before handling him with force and choking him to unconsciousness, according to the claim.

Anastasi claims to have hurt his head, neck, chest, back and shoulder during the incident and received blunt force trauma.

Laurie Payne, a spokeswoman for the city, said in an e-mail that officials were still reviewing the claim.

— Britney Barnes