By KATHERINE PETERSEN
A day into Santa Clara County's annual Avoid the 13 campaign, aimed at cracking down on drunken drivers during the holidays, neighbors of a Sunnyvale resident who was arrested for such an offense complained that Public Safety officers used excessive force in apprehending him.
Barbara Ayala, who lives in the Sunburst Apartments on Weddell Drive, where the incident occurred, said she and other residents watched four officers beat up and arrest her neighbor, 53-year-old Sidney Hines Mitchell, at about 1 a.m. on Dec. 16.
"They were so brash. I saw them when they were punching him in the right ear, and you could see the blood. I've never witnessed anything like that," Ayala said.
She said one officer had his knee in Mitchell's neck while others held him down. "It's very sad. I was thinking of his grandchildren the whole time. I don't see why they had to beat him like that," she said.
Ayala said she was sickened when the officers "high-fived" and congratulated each other after Mitchell's arrest.
Public Safety Capt. Steve Pigott said that such congratulatory behavior would be unacceptable to the department.
However, he added, "It is only an allegation at this point."
He confirmed that Public Safety on Dec. 17 received an excessive-force complaint about the incident. He said the matter was turned over to Internal Affairs for investigation.
Pigott said the department has received 63 excessive force complaints in the past seven years. Two officers were found at fault. He said that, according to the penal code, officers are allowed to use the force necessary to take someone into custody.
He said the officer on duty for the Avoid the 13 campaign said Mitchell's vehicle was weaving, an indication that he may have been drinking. According to the police report, the officer believed Mitchell was pulling over, but then Mitchell sped off, jumping medians and running red lights until he reached his apartment complex.
Three officers chased Mitchell, yelling for him to stop. One officer grabbed his jacket, but Mitchell pulled out of it, causing the officer to fall. Officers finally tackled Mitchell, knocking him into a fence, which Pigott said might have cut the suspect's ear.
Pigott said the officers had to wrestle with Mitchell to get him handcuffed, and they did use pepper spray. Mitchell ceased to resist arrest once he was handcuffed.
Mitchell was charged with resisting arrest, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving without a license.
Pigott said the investigation into the officers' conduct could take between two weeks and a month. All witnesses and officers will be questioned, and Chief Regan Williams will make a final decision on the matter.
As of midnight Dec. 25, Public Safety officers had arrested 71 people for drunken driving as part of the Avoid the 13 Campaign, compared with 52 for the same period last year. Only the San Jose Police Department and the San Jose California Highway Patrol have made more arrests. Two injury accidents due to drunken driving have occurred in Sunnyvale since Dec. 25, compared with no such accidents last year.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun Wednesday, December 27, 1995.
©1995 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.