By PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A west county artist claims he was a victim of police brutality by Santa Rosa officers during an arrest caught on videotape after the Handcar Regatta in September.
Thomas R. Flournoy, 50, says in court documents that he suffered three broken ribs and facial bruising when he was repeatedly punched while being held on the ground by at least three patrolmen.
The Sept. 25 incident near Fifth and Wilson streets in Railroad Square was recorded by a witness carrying a cellphone camera and posted on YouTube, where it has received more than 1,300 hits.
The nine-minute, 11-second video shows an officer identified as Christopher Diaz detaining the unarmed Flournoy and then hitting him in the head and abdomen while trying to put handcuffs on him. Flournoy, who is face down, squirms on the ground.
“Clearly, the officers used excessive force against the accused here in that Mr. Flournoy was viciously beaten,” Flournoy's lawyer, Omar Figueroa, said in court papers. “(He) was beaten again at the jail until he was left sobbing on the floor in pain.”
Flournoy and Kevin Goecke, 38, also from the Sebastopol area, are charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest. Goecke also faces a charge of public drunkenness. They were in court Thursday, where their lawyers sought information from the officers' personnel files.
Both men declined to comment. A jury trial is expected early next year.
Police Chief Tom Schwedhelm referred calls seeking comment Thursday to Lt. Craig Schwartz, who said only that an investigation was underway to determine if officers violated any laws.
Assistant District Attorney Christine Cook also declined to comment.
The incident took place in the evening after the Handcar Regatta, which drew 12,000 people, including hundreds of “steam punks” dressed in Victorian era garb.
Flournoy, Goecke and another friend, Jeffrey White, were among them.
Flournoy, a former mortgage broker, is a West County artist who helped create the Easel Park theme camp at the Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert.
According to a police report, Officer Diaz was dispatched to the Last Day Saloon on Fifth Street at 9:23 p.m. to check on a report of an unwanted subject dressed in a top hat and tails, later identified as Flournoy.
A saloon manager, Dianne Torres, said Flournoy had been kicked out earlier for pushing an employee, returned and refused to leave. Flournoy was gone when Diaz arrived.
Diaz spotted Flournoy a block away with the two other men and attempted to question him, ordering him to sit on his patrol car bumper. The officer said Flournoy was confrontational and his friends kept moving closer, yelling comments.
At one point, Diaz said Flournoy leaped to his feet and faced him, apparently in reaction to White, who had begun filming the encounter. Diaz grabbed Flournoy's arm and forced him onto his car, calling for backup as a crowd gathered.
“I heard someone yell out from my backside, ‘There's more of us than you,'” Diaz wrote in his report.
Officer Jonathan Crespan arrived first, detaining Goecke and White. Seven other officers responded next, including two sergeants.
Diaz said Flournoy wouldn't let the officer handcuff him so Diaz punched him in the right side of his face twice. Diaz said he punched him again in the back when Flournoy concealed his hands underneath his body and hit him four additional times in the left side of his rib cage.
Diaz said Crespan and Sgt. Mike Heiser helped him gain control of Flournoy, who was charged with resisting arrest.
Flournoy was taken to Sutter Hospital where a doctor diagnosed three broken ribs. He was booked at Sonoma County Jail early the next morning and has since been free on bail.
Flournoy maintains in court documents that he complied with the officer's orders and the response was unreasonable.
Also, Goecke accused Officer Crespan of punching him in the chest with a martial arts-style “palm heel strike” and then grabbing him by the hair and shoving his head between his legs.
The men have asked for a dismissal on the grounds that the officers' conduct was “outrageous and inexcusable,” violating their due process rights. In court papers, Figueroa said the action amounts to “summary punishment.”
A shorter version of the video on YouTube is set to Woody Guthrie's “This Land is Your Land,” and asks for witnesses to come forward.
“The issue here is that law enforcement's brutal beat down and violent battery shocks the conscience,” Figueroa said in court papers. “Such unreasonable aggression against these gentlemen is excessive in light of the allegations.”
Thomas R. Flournoy, 50, says in court documents that he suffered three broken ribs and facial bruising when he was repeatedly punched while being held on the ground by at least three patrolmen.
The Sept. 25 incident near Fifth and Wilson streets in Railroad Square was recorded by a witness carrying a cellphone camera and posted on YouTube, where it has received more than 1,300 hits.
The nine-minute, 11-second video shows an officer identified as Christopher Diaz detaining the unarmed Flournoy and then hitting him in the head and abdomen while trying to put handcuffs on him. Flournoy, who is face down, squirms on the ground.
“Clearly, the officers used excessive force against the accused here in that Mr. Flournoy was viciously beaten,” Flournoy's lawyer, Omar Figueroa, said in court papers. “(He) was beaten again at the jail until he was left sobbing on the floor in pain.”
Watch a video posted on YouTube seeking witnesses to the incident
Watch an unedited video posted on YouTube of the incident (Note: contains expletives)
Flournoy and Kevin Goecke, 38, also from the Sebastopol area, are charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest. Goecke also faces a charge of public drunkenness. They were in court Thursday, where their lawyers sought information from the officers' personnel files.
Both men declined to comment. A jury trial is expected early next year.
Police Chief Tom Schwedhelm referred calls seeking comment Thursday to Lt. Craig Schwartz, who said only that an investigation was underway to determine if officers violated any laws.
Assistant District Attorney Christine Cook also declined to comment.
The incident took place in the evening after the Handcar Regatta, which drew 12,000 people, including hundreds of “steam punks” dressed in Victorian era garb.
Flournoy, Goecke and another friend, Jeffrey White, were among them.
Flournoy, a former mortgage broker, is a West County artist who helped create the Easel Park theme camp at the Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert.
According to a police report, Officer Diaz was dispatched to the Last Day Saloon on Fifth Street at 9:23 p.m. to check on a report of an unwanted subject dressed in a top hat and tails, later identified as Flournoy.
A saloon manager, Dianne Torres, said Flournoy had been kicked out earlier for pushing an employee, returned and refused to leave. Flournoy was gone when Diaz arrived.
Diaz spotted Flournoy a block away with the two other men and attempted to question him, ordering him to sit on his patrol car bumper. The officer said Flournoy was confrontational and his friends kept moving closer, yelling comments.
At one point, Diaz said Flournoy leaped to his feet and faced him, apparently in reaction to White, who had begun filming the encounter. Diaz grabbed Flournoy's arm and forced him onto his car, calling for backup as a crowd gathered.
“I heard someone yell out from my backside, ‘There's more of us than you,'” Diaz wrote in his report.
Officer Jonathan Crespan arrived first, detaining Goecke and White. Seven other officers responded next, including two sergeants.
Diaz said Flournoy wouldn't let the officer handcuff him so Diaz punched him in the right side of his face twice. Diaz said he punched him again in the back when Flournoy concealed his hands underneath his body and hit him four additional times in the left side of his rib cage.
Diaz said Crespan and Sgt. Mike Heiser helped him gain control of Flournoy, who was charged with resisting arrest.
Flournoy was taken to Sutter Hospital where a doctor diagnosed three broken ribs. He was booked at Sonoma County Jail early the next morning and has since been free on bail.
Flournoy maintains in court documents that he complied with the officer's orders and the response was unreasonable.
Also, Goecke accused Officer Crespan of punching him in the chest with a martial arts-style “palm heel strike” and then grabbing him by the hair and shoving his head between his legs.
The men have asked for a dismissal on the grounds that the officers' conduct was “outrageous and inexcusable,” violating their due process rights. In court papers, Figueroa said the action amounts to “summary punishment.”
A shorter version of the video on YouTube is set to Woody Guthrie's “This Land is Your Land,” and asks for witnesses to come forward.
“The issue here is that law enforcement's brutal beat down and violent battery shocks the conscience,” Figueroa said in court papers. “Such unreasonable aggression against these gentlemen is excessive in light of the allegations.”
