Scottsdale’s legal fees grow in 2 police shootings

Scottsdale has agreed to spend more money to defend against lawsuits brought by the families of two men shot by police in separate incidents in 2012 and 2008, bringing the total authorized to date to nearly $1.6 million.

This month, the City Council approved paying up to $75,000 in legal fees for an appeal in the 2008 case of David Hulstedt, 35, who became a paraplegic after two Scottsdale sergeants shot him in the back as he was walking toward his house carrying his 2-year-old daughter, according to court records.

The council also approved spending up to $350,000 in the Feb. 14, 2012, fatal shooting of John Loxas Jr., 50, who was holding his 7-month-old grandson when he was shot and killed by Officer James Peters.


The city has authorized more than $1 million total in legal fees for the Hulstedt case and up to $515,000 in the Loxas case, according to  Mike Phillips,  a Scottsdale spokesman.


Loxas was the seventh Scottsdale resident Peters had shot in the line of duty since 2002. Six of the suspects died. Peters was granted a disability retirement this year.

The families of Loxas and Hulstedt filed lawsuits seeking damages against Scottsdale officials. Loxas’ family seeks $7.5 million from Peters, the city, Police Chief Alan Rodbell and Detective Brian McWilliams, according to documents prepared for the City Council.

Hulstedt’s family seeks $40 million from the city and 19 police officers and former employees, the documents said.

Both shootings were deemed justified by the Police Department’s Deadly Force Review Board, according to records, as were Peters’ prior shootings while on duty.

A federal judge disagreed with the review board in Hulstedt’s case, finding that “reasonable” officers would not have fired at Hulstedt, who had psychological issues, was unarmed, made no sudden movements and held his daughter.

The judge further said the baby could have been hurt. In fact, the baby did fall 6 feet to the ground and suffered a minor facial injury, according to the ruling. The judge also noted that police did not warn Hulstedt before they fired.

After three of four police-fired bullets struck Hulstedt, police handcuffed and dragged him facedown 400 feet to paramedics, the judge found.

Hulstedt was suffering from anxiety and paranoia when he called Scottsdale police the day he was shot and demanded that U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano come to his house, according to the ruling.

Police ascertained he was having psychological difficulties, but they were concerned about the safety of Hulstedt’s daughter because Hulstedt threatened to “pile-drive” her, according to court documents.
The judge ruled that the officers are not immune from damages stemming from the suit.

“Considering ‘the totality of the facts and circumstances’ in the particular case, no reasonable officer could have believed that shooting David without warning, while he calmly walked back towards his house with (his daughter) over his head, was a proper means of protecting (her) safety,” the judge said in his ruling.

“Neither Sgt. Richard Slavin nor Sgt. James Dorer warned (Hulstedt) that they would shoot him if he did not comply with their commands, and both of them shot him in the back as he was walking away from them and towards the house.”

The council Nov. 13 approved up to $75,000 with the law firm of Osborn Maledon to appeal the judge’s findings to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The partners of the firm, which has experience with appellate litigation in excessive-force cases, will make $370 an hour, according to City Council documents.

It is unclear how much money the city has spent on prior legal action in either the Hulstedt case or Loxas case or in other lawsuits against retired Officer Peters.

The council approved up to $250,000 in attorney’s fees and up to $100,000 in other litigation fees to the law firm of Struck, Wieneke & Love of Chandler to represent Peters in the Loxas shooting. Lead attorney Kathe Wieneke will make $195 an hour, according to City Council documents. Separate counsel was retained for the city and other defendants.

Loxas’ neighbors had called police to his house Feb. 14, 2012, after he waved a gun at them, according to police reports. He was walking back to his house holding his grandson when he was shot, according to court documents.

The lawsuit filed on his family’s behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union claims that Scottsdale police failed to adequately investigate Peters’ prior shootings and that he should not have been armed and on the force the day Loxas was killed.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/20121112scottsdale-legal-fees-grow-cases.html

Scottsdale police spend $1.87 million on secret new police facility

Scottsdale taxpayers have a new $1.87 million police building, but the city has refused to disclose where it's located.
 
The Scottsdale City Council last week approved the purchase of an office-warehouse building for the Scottsdale Police Department's Investigative Service Bureau from an entity listed only as JKD.

The council, without discussion, voted on the real-estate deal as part of its consent agenda that included 25 other items authorized in a single 7-0 vote.

Scottsdale police spokesman David Pubins said the city is keeping the building location secret to protect undercover officers who use the facility.

"Our attorney said this is privileged information," Pubins said. "We don't want to put lives in jeopardy."

Scottsdale's council routinely approves dozens of items on its consent agenda with little discussion, but the purchase agreement for the 17,827-square-foot police building was unusual in that the city rarely executes $2 million real-estate purchases.

In addition, the staff report to the council omitted the name of the seller and the location of the building.

Another Scottsdale real-estate deal led to a legal challenge in April 2011 that was later dropped.
In that deal, Scottsdale Healthcare paid $1.5 million to the city for four buildings totaling 20,578 square feet on a 1.7-acre downtown site.

The Arizona Republic filed a public-records request for the city to release detailed information on the police building, including the location and the seller's identity, plus the current location of the leased building in use by the Investigative Service Bureau.

Arizona's Public Records Law requires government agencies to make documents available to public inspection, with some exceptions.

Dan Barr, an attorney representing the First Amendment Coalition of Arizona, said using the new city building for undercover police work does not give Scottsdale an exemption from disclosing public records.

The sale will generate a public record in the Maricopa County Recorder's Office when it closes, he said.
 
The city released a March 26 appraisal on the 1-acre property, but the location was blacked out.
Based on that appraisal and property listings, it appears the building is in the Scottsdale Airpark northeast of Greenway-Hayden Loop and Scottsdale Road and that the seller is James K. Dobbs III.
The Airpark area is known for its high concentration of commercial buildings and is one of the Valley's largest employment centers.

Mayor Jim Lane did not return calls about the building purchase.

Councilwoman Linda Milhaven said she voted to buy the building based on the staff report and did not have any additional information about the property.

Councilwoman Lisa Borowsky said she does not know where the building is located but added that the city should disclose that information.

"I guess from their perspective, (police officials) are hesitant to give the location because they're worried about criminals finding out about it."

The appraisal said the police building, built in 1995, includes 5,576 square feet of second-floor offices in a total of 17,827 square feet.

The sale price of $1.87 million is $104.90 per square foot. The original asking price was $2.49 million.

The appraisal listed these comparable sales for Scottsdale office buildings:
A 32,404-square-foot office, built in 1999, that sold in December 2010 for $2.4 million, or $74.06 per square foot.

A 31,000-square-foot office, built in 1986, that sold in April 2011 for $3.8 million, or $123.86 per square foot.

Jim Keeley, a Scottsdale Airpark broker with Colliers International, said the city got a fair price on the building.

Office-warehouse buildings are selling for between $100 and $110 per square foot, he said.
Colliers International recently closed a deal near WestWorld on a 12,000-square-foot office warehouse that sold for $102 per square foot, Keeley said.

Cassidy Turley reported that it recently sold a 21,088-square-foot office-warehouse building in the Scottsdale Airpark for $2 million or $94.84 per square foot.

Scottsdale is currently leasing a 13,000-square-foot building for the Investigative Service Bureau at a cost of $430,000.

That lease expires in April 2013.

Scottsdale is buying the new building using funds from a federal program known as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act or RICO.

The U.S. Department of Justice approved Scottsdale's expenditure.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/2012/07/05/20120705scottsdale-police-facility-city-silent.html?google_editors_picks=true

Board OKs disability for Scottsdale serial killer cop involved in 6 fatal shootings

 SCOTTSDALE, AZ (CBS5) -A Scottsdale board has approved a request for mental disability from a police officer involved in six deadly shootings in the past 10 years.

City of Scottsdale spokesman Kelly Corsette said Scottsdale's Public Safety Personnel System Retirement Board passed Officer James Peters request, which will now be forwarded to the state administrator for processing. It is expected to begin on July 1.

Peters applied for early retirement and disability benefits earlier this year. Peters' monthly pension is expected to be approximately $4,500.

Peters has killed more people than any other officer in the history of Arizona Law Enforcement.
The most recent death took place in February, when Peters and other officers responded to a call that a 50-year-old man was threatening neighbors with a gun while holding a baby.

One officer said that he spotted what was believed to be a weapon and Peters reportedly opened fire, killing James Loxas. The baby was not hurt.

 http://www.kpho.com/story/18851598/board-approves-disability-for-az-officer-involved-in-6-fatal-shootings#.T-QHRzA3xVA.facebook

Scottsdale Blackout March for Justice and an End to Police Brutality

Scottsdale Campaign for Justice and an End to Police Murder

Meeting at Scottsdale & Indian School Rd
8:00pm until 11:00pm
Friday, February 24

**WEAR BLACK**
**BRING NOISE MAKERS**
**TAKE THE STREETS**

We will march, once again, for justice in Scottsdale over the killings of 6 people by officer James Peters.

We want to make it clear to the City of Scottsdale that we will not stop until justice is had by the victims, their families, and everyone else who was involved. We intend on seeing this through, and will achieve this goal no matter what.

We demand:
-Officer James Peters be immediately fired from his position

-Officer Peters be charged with murder

-Negligence charges brought against the Scottsdale Police Department for ever letting it get this far.

We will march once again through the streets of Scottsdale.

Be ready.

Report outlines fatal shot fired by Scottsdale police officer

Just before Scottsdale police opened fire on Jason Prostrollo, the former Marine appeared in the doorway of a friend's home holding two halves of a pool cue as he walked toward police.

"I saw a very methodical slow paced walk, like he knew what he was doing coming at us and he was gonna take us on," Lt. Ron Bayne told investigators following the Jan. 28 shooting. The incident was outlined in a 244-page police report released last week.

Bayne used his .40-caliber Glock pistol to shoot and kill the 25-year-old Prostrollo after police were called to the north Scottsdale home of Prostrollo's friends.

The friends had called police because Prostrollo was drunk and threatening the homeowner with a large hunting knife.

Bayne, a 19-year police veteran, told investigators that he has been in many situation where using deadly force was a potential option.

"We've given commands and people have complied. There was never an indication in my mind that (Prostrollo) had any intention of complying at all," Bayne said.

The day after the shooting, a police spokesman said officers could not use a Taser on Prostrollo because of windy conditions. The report says the officers were armed with Tasers and several officers mention windy conditions that night, however the report does not specify that is the reason a Taser was not used.

As Prostrollo walked toward officers, he made "karate-type moves" using the sticks, Bayne said.

Another officer described Prostrollo coming out in a stick-fighter position, with a stick in each hand on his sides.

Sgt. KC Moore told investigators that another officer was giving Prostrollo commands to stop, but Prostrollo did not listen.

"He had a very piercing stare. Almost like, I don't know if I wanna call a death stare, but he wasn't paying attention to what we were saying," Moore said.

As Prostrollo continued walking toward officers, the K-9 officer, who was giving Prostrollo commands to stop, yelled that he was going to release his dog.

At the same time, Moore said he heard two loud pops, which was Bayne firing his weapon.

Bayne's bullets hit Prostrollo, killing him and hitting the dog, which was taken to an animal hospital and survived.

How it all started

The incident began the night before at Ernie's Restaurant and Bar, 10443 N. Scottsdale Road.

Prostrollo's friends, a 50-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman, had known Prostrollo for about six months. Their names are redacted in the report.

The couple told police that they went to Erine's about 10:30 p.m. Jan. 27 to play pool and have some drinks. There, they ran into Prostrollo, who had told them he was a former Marine and had served in Iraq.

"That night, Jason was drinking but did not seem to be impaired," the 50-year-old man told police.

Later, the couple invited Prostrollo back to their house to play pool.

The three left Ernie's shortly after midnight and drove to the home in the 12000 block of north 135th Place.

A few hours later, the girlfriend went to bed and by this time, Prostrollo appeared to be drunk, different and more aggressive in his storytelling, the report states.

"Jason kept pouring himself more drinks, Jack Daniels and getting very liberal with the drinks," the man said.

About 3 a.m., the man called a cab for Prostrollo.

The cab arrived about 30 minutes later, and Prostrollo, who was unable to walk straight or complete his sentences, got in the cab, the man told police.

About 4 a.m., the cab driver called 911 to say that 10 minutes earlier, a man had held a knife to his neck and forced him to drive back to the house on 135th Place.

About 10 minutes later, the doorbell rang and someone was banging on the front door, the man told police.

He saw it was Prostrollo, and he allowed him into the foyer.

"Jason was at the front door and was very animated, talking nonsense and paranoid."

Prostrollo was rambling about his brother, his mission in the Marines and stating, "You know what you did."

The man offered to call another cab for Prostrollo and asked him to leave.

"I could see this guy was not all there right now," the man told police.

At about the same time, the 33-year-old woman called 911. She told the dispatcher that she had locked herself in the bathroom because a friend was threatening her boyfriend with a knife.

She heard her boyfriend call out her name, so she walked outside to the foyer and saw Prostrollo standing in the kitchen holding a large military-style bowie knife with a round handle and large silver blade. She saw Prostrollo put the knife down and she ran out of the house, where police met her.

Police then called the boyfriend on his cellphone and told him to exit the house. He complied. Moments later, Prostrollo exited the house. He was wearing a white tank top with his dog tags around his neck. The girlfriend told officers that Prostrollo was a former military man who possibly had post-traumatic stress disorder. Prostrollo's father later confirmed the diagnosis for The Republic.

"The subject has something in his left hand that looked like a pool stick. In his right hand he had something that looked like a darkened barrel of a rifle, just the barrel. Both objects appeared to be the same length. The subject had his hands raised up near his head holding the two objects," the report states.

Officer Anthony Sanborn, the K-9 officer, was instructed to give commands.

"At a point when it was clear that he wasn't listening to Sanborn, I started giving my own commands," Bayne said.

When Prostrollo reached about 7 yards away, Bayne said he fired two rounds without pause.

"From all my years of training ... with his level of violence that (Prostrollo) had displayed all night, it was clear to me that he wasn't gonna comply with our commands and he had every intent to hit one of our officers," Bayne said. "And I believe that that would've caused life-threatening injuries if he would have been successful with that."

Trio recalls run-in with Scottsdale officer involved in seven shootings

By: Hatzel Vela

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - New people are coming forward and talking about run-ins with the same Scottsdale officer who has been involved in seven police shootings.

Read the police report.

Megan Fells was with her boyfriend and their friend, Andrew Thomas, when Officer James Peters stopped them on Brown Avenue.

The police report Peters wrote said he first noticed the trio jaywalking, then stopped when he saw their license plate light not working.

Fells doesn’t think they were jaywalking and said she still has the same license plate light.

She said things quickly escalated when Thomas, who was sitting in the back seat, questioned Peters why he had to show his identification.

"If you don't give me your [expletive] I’m going to pull you out of the car and take it from you,” Fells recalled Peters said in the exchange.

Fells said Peters was screaming and yelling in her boyfriend’s face, who was driving the car.

"He most definitely has an anger issue. I didn’t hear a peep from the other officers. He [Peters] pretty much ran the show,” she said.

ABC15 checked out the police report and the stories were similar, except the situation seemed under control.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_northeast_valley/scottsdale/trio-recalls-run-in-with-scottsdale-officer-involved-in-seven-shootings

Bar Patron: Bouncers, Scottsdale Officer Used Excessive Force

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. -- A Scottsdale man says a Scottsdale police officer and bouncers at Jackrabbit Supper Club used excessive force when they subdued him during a bar brawl in July 2010.

Surveillance videotape from the Old Town Scottsdale nightclub shows (victim's name removed by request, hereafter referred to as ***) standing on the sidelines when the brawl began outside the bar.

"I wasn't trying to fight back," said ***.

The tape shows *** reach up to as a bouncer turns toward him.

The tape then shows two bouncers grab *** and slam him into a wall.

After turning him around, a Scottsdale officer shows up and repeatedly strikes *** with his baton.

*** is off screen during several of the strikes.

"They were barbarians. Almost brutal," said *** of the incident.

A photograph taken afterward shows a large bruise covering a portion of ***'s right leg.

"The manner in which they acted was absolutely uncalled for," said ***.

Sgt. Mark Clark, a Scottsdale police spokesperson, said the surveillance tape tells a different story about how *** reacted to the brawl.

"He lunged towards one of the doorman and stuck out his arm, like who knows what he was going to do," said Sgt. Clark.

Sgt Clark said the Scottsdale police officer repeatedly reported that he repeatedly asked *** to get on the ground before striking him with his baton.

"The video shows that he was trying to get away. If he was doing as the office asked him to do and commanded him to do there probably wouldn't have been a confrontation," said Clark.

The courts will decide what really happened during the incident.

*** was charged with disorderly conduct and failing to obey a police officer and will appear in court early next year.

*** also plans to file a notice of claim against Scottsdale police and Jackrabbit Supper Club for $3.5 million dollars.

After CBS 5 contacted Scottsdale police about the incident, Clark asked internal affairs investigators to review the videotape of the officer hitting ***.

http://www.kpho.com/news/26253162/detail.html