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Brentwood Press - AntiochPress_05.16.08 - Index

4A | THEPRESS.NET COMMUNITY MAY 16, 2008
Suspended students sue AUSD, city
Three Deer Valley High School students
who were suspended last year for their
involvement in a disturbance at Gas City –
suspensions that were overturned on appeal
– have sued the Antioch Unifi ed School
District (AUSD), the city of Antioch and
the Antioch Police Department.
The suit was fi led by the parents of
three African-American minors listed as
Michael H., Nicholas P. and DeArmand
E. (whose last name was disclosed as Ellis
after he asked that his suspension hearing
be open to the public last year).
The suit alleges that the three “were
racially profi led, physically attacked and
unlawfully arrested by offi cers of the Antioch
Police Department. Thereafter, in order
to cover up their unlawful conduct, the
offi cers of the Antioch Police Department
conspired with (school) administrators …
to suspend … and expel (them).”
City Manager Jim Jakel defended the
police, saying they acted “entirely appropriately”
in the incident. AUSD Superintendent
Deborah Sims could not be reached
for comment by deadline Wednesday.
The actions leading to the litigation began
in Deer Valley Plaza about a half hour
after school ended on March 7, 2007.
The suit asserts that Michael, Nicholas
and another African-American student
identifi ed as Victor F. were harassed by Antioch
Police Offi cer James Vincent, “who
falsely accused them of blocking traffi c in
the Plaza.” Vincent prevented them from
going in to Taco Bell and walked toward
Michael holding a canister of pepper spray.
Michael and Nicholas ran across the
street to Gas City, chased by Vincent and
Police Offi cer Leroy Bloxsom. The suit
states that Bloxsom pepper sprayed Nicholas
and Michael and slammed Michael to
the ground. The incident escalated as several
other students were pepper strayed,
tackled and arrested.
Police Offi cer M. Zepeda (the lawsuit
does not provide his full fi rst name), holding
a canister of pepper spray, walked
toward a group of students watching the
incident. DeArmand ran and was chased
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by Zepeda who tackled him. The arrests of
DeArmand, Michael and Nicholas, along
with four others, comprised a group that
AUSD Board President Walter Ruehlig
dubbed The Gas City Seven.
“In order to cover up their misconduct,
the involved police offi cers made numerous
false statements in their incident reports,”
the lawsuit states. “The offi cers contended
that plaintiffs had blocked traffi c, incited the
crowd, that a crowd in excess of 50 chased
the offi cers, and that the crowd encroached
on the offi cers in an apparent attempt to
free the arrestees.”
The following day, DeArmand, Michael
and Nicholas were suspended. This
was followed by hearings to expel them for
the rest of the school year and the fi rst semester
of the following school year.
The expulsion was based on violation
of the state Education Code, which states
that students are not allowed to cause or
threaten to cause physical injury to another
person, and are not allowed to disrupt
school activities or otherwise willfully defy
the valid authority of supervisors, teachers,
administrators, school offi cers or other
school personnel engaged in the performance
of their duties.
The suit claims that the district violated
the students’ rights during the hearings by
allowing the district’s chief investigator and
witness during the hearings, Ron Leone, to
also preside as the hearing offi cer and rule
on the admissibility of evidence, including
his own.
In addition, the students’ rights were
violated by not allowing their counsel to
cross-examine the police offi cers who tes-
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Councilman
Reggie Moore
talks to
DeArmand Ellis
at a forum on
March 17, 2007,
just 10 days
after Ellis was
arrested during
a disturbance
at Gas City.
Press file photo
tifi ed against them, although the students’
witnesses were allowed to be cross-examined,
according to the suit.
The district also withheld exculpatory
evidence such as a cell phone video of police
pepper spraying and making arrests, the
suit states. And the district did not obtain
the juvenile court’s permission to copy and
disseminate the police reports used in the
hearings.
“The testimony of the eyewitnesses
established that plaintiffs did not physically
injure, attempt to injure, or threaten to
cause physical injury to any of the offi cers,”
the suit states. “The eyewitness testimony
further established that the incident occurred
off campus, after school hours and
did not involve school personnel engaged in
the performance of their duties.”
All of the student expulsions were
subsequently overturned. DeArmand’s
was overturned by the County Offi ce of
Education (COE), which ruled that AUSD
did not have jurisdiction in the matter and
did not show that he violated the education
code, according to the suit.
The expulsions of Michael and Nicholas
were upheld by the COE, but were subsequently
overturned in Superior Court on
April 18, ruling that they did not violate the
education code, the suit states.
The suit alleges that what happened
to these students is due to racism by school
and city offi cials. It states that while a quarter
of Deer Valley High School students
are African-American, African-Americans
comprised more than half of the students
who were expelled from that school from
2004 to 2007.
From June of 2004 through January of
2008, 46 percent of the people (and 60 percent
of the juveniles) arrested by Antioch
for delaying or obstructing a police offi cer
were African-American, it states.
The suit seeks compensation for the
students who, it states, “sustained pain and
suffering, emotional distress, fear, humiliation,
loss of security, anxiety, loss of physical
liberty and loss of property interest.” It
also seeks punitive damages “to deter future
similar conduct” by the school district and
the city. The suit asks that the dispute be decided
in a jury trial.
School Board Member Gary Agopian
declined to discuss the lawsuit because it is
a pending legal issue, but added, via e-mail,
“As I have said publicly before, however,
I stand behind the decision we made as a
board on this issue.”
Antioch City Manager Jim Jakel defended
the actions of the police offi cers.
“Our review of the incident indicates that
the offi cers involved conducted themselves
entirely appropriately,” he said. “Crime
committed by this community’s youth is a
serious issue.”
Jakel added that the city has been
working with the school district and other
organizations to help Antioch’s younger
people. “We will continue to work to assist
Antioch’s youth in the future,” he said.
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