Anthony Bell, 26, claimed he suffered physical and emotional injury at
the hands of Sgt. Damon Keeve when he was arrested after having a broken
taillight early Feb. 9, 2002, and taken to the Bayview district police station
where Keeve worked.
Keeve, who was apparently booking Bell, brought in the arresting officers
to demonstrate certain blows, the lawsuit said. Keeve proceeded to punch
Bell's elbows from behind, knee him in the back and head-butt him from behind,
Bell said.
One officer at the Bayview station was watching the incident on a video
monitor in the station and reported it to department authorities, triggering a
criminal and internal investigation. No charges were filed.
With the internal investigation still unresolved, the city tentatively
settled the matter last month. The settlement will go before the Police
Commission on Wednesday and ultimately before the Board of Supervisors.
"The settlement reflects the city attorney's estimation of the potential
liability had we gone to trial,'' said Matt Dorsey, spokesman for the office.
In the suit, Bell said Keeve, 43, had told the arresting officers he was
going to show them a training exercise. Keeve delivered a blow to his elbows,
saying a strike there was acceptable, the lawsuit said.
Keeve then punched and kneed him in the back, saying that was the
"breaking point,'' and then head-butted him, Bell said.
Bell's head struck the glass of the holding area, the lawsuit said. Keeve
then goaded Bell into hitting him, Bell said.
The internal investigation was inconclusive because the officer who saw
the monitor -- which does not tape -- changed his account, sources said
Friday. However, acting Chief Heather Fong said she has not seen the results
of the investigation.
Keeve, a national judo champion and a football coach at Washington High
School in the city's Richmond District, has denied wrongdoing. He is now
assigned to the record room and could not be reached for comment.
His attorney, Jim Collins, said, "The fact that the city has decided to
settle is no indication that Sgt. Keeve has done anything wrong. He has not
done anything wrong, and I'm personally convinced that he would exonerated had
it ever gone to a hearing.''
Bell declined to cooperate with police internal investigators and
prosecutors at the direction of his attorney, Michael Cardoza, a former
prosecutor. He said he didn't trust the department or then-District Attorney
Terence Hallinan to do a thorough investigation.
Bell detailed the accusations in the lawsuit he filed in Dec. 2002.
"My client said he got tired of being used as a crash dummy,'' Cardoza
said. "Keeve stepped way over the line in what he did.''
Bell's suit said the department showed "systematic willfulness or
neglect'' in failing to use "appropriate or reasonable means to hire and
train'' officers on the force.
A day after the alleged head-butting, Keeve allegedly offered a bribe to
the police chief of Brisbane in an effort to get a friend a break on a traffic
ticket, according to internal charges subsequently filed against Keeve. That
disciplinary matter, which could result in his dismissal, is still pending
before the Police Commission.
This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
