KGO cameraman assaulted by OPD on Lovelle Mixon Day 2009 awarded $175,000

Oakland to pay $175,000 to manhandled TV cameraman

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco Chronicle June 8, 2011 04:00 AM
Thursday, June 9, 2011

OAKLAND --

The city of Oakland has agreed to pay $175,000 to a former KGO-TV cameraman who filed a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing several police officers of attacking him and breaking his camera as he tried to film outside a hospital on the day four officers were killed in 2009.

Douglas Laughlin said several officers accosted him March 21, 2009, outside Highland Hospital in Oakland as he tried to film the arrival of an ambulance carrying one of the mortally wounded officers.

The video shows off-duty Officer Fred Shavies running toward Laughlin and yelling, "Hey! Get the f- out of here!" Shavies then knocked Laughlin against a parked car, breaking the camera's viewfinder, according to Laughlin's suit.

A group of officers then forced Laughlin away from the hospital and onto East 31st Street. Police proceeded to rope off a section of the street and declare the hospital's emergency-room area a crime scene, which Laughlin's suit said was "manufactured to rationalize" the officers' actions.

"You guys can't do this to me," Laughlin protests on the video.

Sgt. Rich Vierra, who at the time was chief of staff to then-acting Chief Howard Jordan, tells Laughlin, "Sir, look at what we're doing here, man. Sir, that's one of our police officers that got shot. You need to leave."

Laughlin acknowledged that he had not suffered any injuries but said the incident violated his First Amendment rights and led to his early retirement, according to Oakland Assistant City Attorney Barbara Parker.

Laughlin said he had been "traumatized by the sudden yelling, profanity and manhandling by police officers and being forcibly moved up the street when others were not."

His attorney, Chuck Bourdon, said Wednesday, "If these guys would simply acknowledge that they acted unprofessionally on an emotional day, he would have understood. ... Instead, they tried to make him feel like he was wrong."

Without admitting wrongdoing, the City Council voted in closed session Tuesday to approve the settlement.

Police officials have said the incident should be viewed in the context of what happened on what was the department's single deadliest day.

Sgt. Mark Dunakin and John Hege, both motorcycle officers, were fatally shot by wanted rape suspect Lovelle Mixon during a traffic stop in East Oakland. Hours later, while holed up in an apartment building, Mixon shot and killed SWAT Sgts. Ervin Romans and Daniel Sakai. Mixon was then shot dead by police and an Alameda County sheriff's deputy.