Long Beach Businessmen Seek $10,000 Apiece From City : 2 Blacks Claim Harassment in Newport

Two Long Beach men each have filed $10,000 claims against the City of Newport Beach, contending that police and security guards harassed them at gunpoint during a shopping trip to Fashion Island mall because they were black.

“This sounds like something we would see out of Selma, Ala.,” said their attorney, Tom Barham of Los Alamitos.

Barham said that on Nov. 21, William Powers, 43, and Carl White, 30, went to Newport Beach’s upscale shopping mall to browse and get ideas for displaying a new car wax product they plan to market. The men own an auto detailing company in Long Beach called Buff-Man Bill Auto House Plus and a chauffeur business, he said.

“I’ve been stopped by police before and been harassed, but I haven’t been able to sleep since this happened,” Powers said. “Now, every time I see a police car, I get shaky and nervous. I never used to do that.”

The claim, filed Dec. 14 against Newport Beach and its Police Department, alleges that two police officers assisted security guards who had detained Barham’s clients. False arrest and illegal search and seizure are among the violations alleged in the claim.

The city is required by law to investigate and respond within 45 days. If they are denied, claimants would be free to file a lawsuit in Superior Court. The item is on Monday’s City Council meeting agenda.

Newport Beach City Atty. Robert Burnham said the majority of claims filed against the city are routinely rejected by the council.

The accusation is the latest in a string of such claims against the Newport Beach Police Department alleging excessive force, false arrest or civil rights violations.

Department critics have said that Newport police often are too aggressive protecting this resort town of 65,000 mostly Caucasian, affluent residents. They have contended that the officers frequently harass young people, minorities or anyone who appears to be an outsider.

Barham said his clients have been unable to identify the security guards involved in the incident. The attorney said he believes that they were officers working for one or more of the jewelry stores in the mall.

The Irvine Co. owns Fashion Island and operates the mall’s security force. Some stores also employ their own security guards.

Earlier Robbery Mentioned

Powers and White said they were browsing outside Wyndham Leigh jewelry store in the mall’s Atrium Court when several uniformed guards and one plain-clothes security guard detained them, Barham said. All of the security guards carried guns, Barham said.

Powers said he and White were detained for three hours by the unidentified security guards. The plaintiffs allege that they were photographed, searched and questioned during that time.

White said the guards told them that they were stopped because they looked like suspects who earlier had robbed a store in the Atrium Court area.

“I told them, ‘If you say we all look alike, tell us what store we robbed so we can go and have them identify us,’ ” White said. He and Powers said that during their detainment, the guards had them roll up their sleeves to check for “needle marks.”

One guard took Powers’ wallet, saw that he had about $60, and said, “You don’t have enough money to be in this shopping center,” the men claimed.

Trent Harris, a Newport Beach police spokesman, said records showed that police responded to a call from Fashion Island’s Raff Jewelry store to investigate “suspicious subjects” .

Irvine Co. Statement

A Raff Jewelry spokesman said he was not aware of the incident. He said the store does not employ its own security guards.

A Wyndham Leigh spokesman said the store had a guard on duty at the time but that he was not involved in the incident.

The Irvine Co. maintains that its security guards did not respond to the incident.

“We’ve reviewed the matter and found that Irvine Co. guards were not involved. They did not summon the police and do not carry guns,” Sally Smith, an attorney for the Irvine Co., said. “All I know is that it is not an Irvine Co. employee matter.”

A Fashion Island spokeswoman said there was no record of such an incident in its security log.

Followed to City Limits

The plaintiffs said the security officers who detained them wore beige and brown uniforms, while Fashion Island officers wear blue and white uniforms.

White and Powers said they were stopped at gunpoint by the same guards and police after they had left the Fashion Island parking lot. The plaintiffs said they were questioned for 45 minutes and thattheir car was searched.

The guards told them to leave town, while the two Newport Beach police officers, one male and one female, said nothing, according to Powers.

After they were released a second time, Powers and White said a different Newport Beach police car and motorcycle followed their gray 1978 Chevrolet Nova to the city limits but did not stop their car.

Harris said the police do not believe any department policies were broken during the incident.

“We were called there after the individuals had been detained. We are not aware what occurred prior to our contact,” Harris said. He added that the department is not investigating the incident at this time because the claims have been filed through the city and not as a complaint to the police.

But White remains indignant.

“I don’t have time to stand here for four hours while these guys try to decide whether we’re credible or not,” White said. “I certainly don’t have time to rob some penny ante jewelry store.”