2 Rookies Face Unusual Felony Count in Assault of 59-year-old Motorist
By Jessie Seyfer, The San Jose Mercury News
Two rookie Palo Alto police officers accused of beating and then temporarily blinding a 59-year-old man with pepper spray were charged Wednesday with assault and battery under color of authority -- the first time in at least a dozen years that the felony charge has been brought in Santa Clara County.
Prosecutors say Michael Kan, 25, and Craig Lee, 40, attacked Palo Alto hotel worker Albert Hopkins the night of July 13 after he refused to identify himself and one of the officers tried to yank him from his parked car. They said Hopkins, who is black, suffered several abrasions and a welt near his eye in the incident.
“A person who is minding their own business, sitting in a car on a public street, doesn’t have to identify themselves to police, and the police are not entitled to arrest them or beat them,” deputy district attorney Peter Waite said.
The officers are expected to appear in court as early as today. Neither had immediate comment but their lawyer, Harry Stern, defended their actions, saying, “They used justifiable force when confronted with someone who was belligerent and aggressive.”
The charges -- which carry a maximum penalty of three years in prison -- stunned city officials, who have prided themselves on a progressive police force that respects diversity and is attuned to its well-educated residents and their political sensitivities.
Hopkins’ lawyer, his brother Joe, has already filed a civil claim against Palo Alto alleging civil rights violations in the case, and on Wednesday he reiterated his contention that race was a factor in the incident. The two officers are Asian-American.
“There’s a 60-year-old black male sitting in a car not driving, not drinking, not smoking,” Hopkins said. “Why is he being approached, other than the fact that he’s black?”
But Palo Alto Police Chief Lynne Johnson, who is facing her first major crisis since being sworn in as chief in May, said investigators found no evidence that Kan and Lee mistreated Hopkins because he is black.
“The whole situation is very tragic for Mr. Hopkins, for the young officers and their families, for the whole police department and for the community,” Johnson said Wednesday. “It’s our responsibility when these situations arise to launch a thorough and objective criminal investigation and we have done that. Now we will do the same with an administrative investigation.”
The case began the night of July 13 about 10:30 p.m. Hopkins had pulled his car over near the intersection of Oxford Avenue and El Camino Real because he was exhausted after a long day at work, prosecutors said.
Lee noticed Hopkins, approached his car and asked him for identification, prosecutors said. Hopkins refused, and Lee used Hopkins’ license plate number to confirm his identity. Kan then stopped his police car nearby. Prosecutors said Lee spoke with Kan, and Kan then ordered Hopkins out of the car. Kan tried to pull Hopkins out of the car; Hopkins initially resisted, then stood up, Waite said.
Waite said Kan then struck Hopkins several times with his baton while Hopkins tried to ward off the blows. He said Lee also struck Hopkins several times with his baton. Waite said he didn’t know exactly how many times the officers hit Hopkins but said it was “more than two times.”
The officers then doused Hopkins “extensively” with pepper spray, Waite said.
Hopkins was “overcome, temporarily blinded and handcuffed,” Waite said. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment and released, and was not booked on any charges, police said.
There was at least one witness to the incident, Johnson said. Investigators hope more will come forward.
Albert Hopkins could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but Joe Hopkins said, “The officers are deserving of what’s getting ready to happen to them.” He said his brother had a chipped bone in his knee and would have surgery next week.
Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu said it is unusual that the officers are being charged with a felony.
In the past 12 years, prosecutors have charged officers with misdemeanor assault under color of authority -- a charge from a specialized Penal Code section that deals with peace officers. Five officers have been charged as such since 1991, the first year for which figures were available, Sinunu said. All were convicted.
The charge against Kan and Lee was elevated to felony status because Hopkins had not committed any crime and because of the severity of the beating, Sinunu said.
Johnson said that Kan and Lee were placed on paid administrative leave immediately after the incident. The department launched a criminal probe and will now begin an administrative investigation to determine whether the men broke any departmental rules.
Kan, who graduated from the University of California-Davis with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering, was hired in January 2002. Lee, a former reserve officer in Palo Alto, was hired in July 2002 and is still a probationary officer, Johnson said.
Both men worked in the technology industry before being hired, according to city documents.
Councilwoman Hillary Freeman said she did not know all the facts in the case but believes that police officers sometimes target blacks.
“I have heard many stories from many people inside and outside of Palo Alto, about DWB, driving while black,” said Freeman, who is black.
Freeman said she intends to take her son, a sixth-grader, to the department to meet officers so they know he is a local resident and not a criminal.
Upon hearing of the charges against the officers, Palo Alto City Council member Judy Kleinberg said she raised the question of whether the police department needed to change its training procedure. Johnson “told me that they are under review to make sure that junior police officers are not in a position where they are not being given guidance,” she said.