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Two officers arrested for beating longtime resident

by Don Kazak

Police Chief Lynne Johnson is dealing with the "second-worst thing" a police chief has to cope with: the felony arrest of officers for assault and battery.

Police officers Michael Kan, 25, and Craig Lee, 40, were each charged Thursday with felony assault and battery by a peace officer by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. The officers have been with the department less than 18 months. If convicted, the officers could face up to three years in jail.

Kan and Lee appeared in court Thursday morning and were released on their recognizance. They will be formally arraigned Aug. 22.

Both officers also remain on paid administrative leave pending completion of an administrative investigation separate from the criminal charges, which could take three or four weeks, Johnson said. Based on the administrative process they could be subject to dismissal.

The officers are charged with beating Albert Hopkins, 59, on the night of July 13 after they allegedly pulled him out of his parked car on Oxford Avenue near El Camino Real. Hopkins is an African-American and a retired counselor at De Anza Community College.

Deputy District Attorney Peter Waite said a "very thorough" investigation by the Palo Alto department disclosed that Hopkins initially did not give his name when approached by Officer Lee, and only confirmed it after a radio check, but couldn't find his driver's license.

Officer Kan arrived and ordered Hopkins out of the car, then pulled him out after a brief resistance. When Hopkins stood up, Kan "hit Hopkins repeatedly with his police baton while Hopkins tried to ward off blows. Officer Lee also hit Hopkins repeatedly with his police baton," Waite wrote in an announcement of the arrests.

"When officers Kan and Lee failed to subdue Hopkins with baton blows, both officers doused him extensively with pepper spray. Hopkins was overcome, temporarily blinded and handcuffed." Paramedics provided first aid at the scene and Hopkins was transported to Stanford Hospital, where he was treated and released.

Johnson, recently appointed chief after 28 years with the department, said she couldn't recall any other incident in that time when officers were charged with felonious assault and battery.

"This is the second-worst thing that can happen to a department," Johnson said, with the worst being the death of an officer in the line of duty. "It affects every single person."

"He can't believe it happened," attorney Joe Hopkins, Albert Hopkins' brother, said of the incident. "He's lived in (Palo Alto) more than 30 years and nothing like that has ever happened to him before."

Joe Hopkins said Albert Hopkins will undergo surgery Monday for a chipped bone in his knee, incurred during the incident.

But the attorney for the two officers challenged the interpretation and questioned even the hospitalization.

"I find that kind of information highly suspect," attorney Harry Stern said. Any injuries were minor at best, he said.

"Keep in mind that his brother makes his living suing police departments," Stern said, referring to the fact that Joe Hopkins has represented people who have brought suit against police departments in the past.

Stern, a former Berkeley police officer, said the two officers did nothing wrong. "They are innocent of the charges," he said. "They used justifiable force."

He said Hopkins "was belligerent, aggressive and resisted their reasonable efforts to take him into custody."

Hopkins was taken to Stanford Hospital and treated and released. He was never charged with any crime.

Sgt. Scott Wong, president of the Palo Alto Peace Officers Association, said, "Like any other person, they are presumed innocent until proven guilty."

As the courts sort out the matter, Chief Johnson has to pull her department together.

"It's a real, real difficult situation, and it will be for some time," she said. She added that officers are already telling her that the incident has struck a chord among some members of the public.

"I've had officers be asked, after making a traffic stop, `Are you going to beat me, too?'" she said. Johnson said officers receive extensive training on the use of force.

"They are trained to deal with situations without using force," Johnson said. "And then they are taught about the escalation of force. It's an important part of their training" before they are alone on the street.

"But getting trained and real-life situations are different things, and we're talking about that," she added.

Johnson has been especially sensitive to the department's relationship with members of the minority community. She has put together an ad hoc group of minority residents -- including Latinos, African-Americans, Muslims and others -- to talk with the department's command staff and other officers about racial sensitivity. Ironically, that group had its first meeting July 21, the day before Albert Hopkins' $200,000 claim was filed against the city, usually a first step toward a civil lawsuit.

"It was clear to me, before this incident, that the credibility, trust and confidence in the department (from the minority community) had been eroded in recent years for a variety of reasons," Johnson said. The purpose of the ad hoc group is "to break down barriers between members of the minority community and the police," Johnson said. "We want to open the lines of communication."

Then the roof fell in with the Hopkins case, Johnson acknowledged.

A report in March showed that African-Americans and Latinos were two to three times as likely as whites or Asians to be searched when they came into contact with Palo Alto police between July and December of 2002.

Mayor Dena Mossar expressed support for Johnson. "The most positive thing for me is I have so much faith in the wisdom of our police chief to do the right thing and make sure this doesn't happen again," she said.

Don Kazak is the Weekly's senior staff writer. He can be e-mailed at dkazak@paweekly.com.