Woman who fought cops seeks damages

A woman who is suing Newport Beach for $15 million after fighting police on her front porch claims in recent legal filings that she lives in constant fear, has lost weight and hasn’t been able to sleep or hold a job since the incident.

Suzanne Abrams claims Newport Beach police officers knocked her off the porch of her Little Balboa Island house and beat her while responding to a call in which she screamed that she had been raped.

In recent court filings, Abrams details her time in a Massachusetts psychiatric hospital where she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after her run-in with police. Abrams is asking Orange County Superior Court for permission to file a claim for damages against the city, although she missed the deadline to do so because she was undergoing psychiatric treatment.

She’s already suing the city in federal court for $15 million on claims that Newport Beach police violated her civil rights.

“I have been incapacitated and have not been able to function in the same way I was able to function prior to the incident. I have been unable to engage in regular and normal life functions,” Abrams said in a statement filed Sept. 29 with the Superior Court.

Although Abrams is no longer at the psychiatric hospital, she is still undergoing treatment for post-traumatic stress, her attorney, Harry Harrison, said Tuesday.

“From an emotional standpoint, the incident has had a dramatic impact on her life,” Harrison said. “She was once a very successful real estate agent, but that’s not the case any longer.”

In a statement included in the latest court filings, Abrams’ psychologist, Carol Lindquist, claims Abrams has no memory of her altercation with police, but watching a video of the incident caused her distress.

“As she had no memory of the traumatic evening, it was clearly upsetting for her to watch the police video and caused her severe deterioration,” Lindquist said in the statement. “She had tried to watch it with her father and was only able to watch a brief portion of the video as she was so traumatized that she was unable to continue.”

Lindquist began treating Abrams for depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, headaches, fear and difficulties with her family after the fight with police, according to court papers.

“[Abrams] was unable to manage her legal, personal and professional life,” Lindquist said in her statement.

Abrams was dropped off at her home on Park Avenue after a date in the early-morning hours of April 4, 2007, when police responded to her home after getting a call that she was screaming that she was raped, according to her complaint.

Frightened by the presence of male police officers at her home, Abrams asked them to leave, the complaint states.

The officers then “approached [Abrams], grabbed her arms, hit her legs, knocked her off her porch and beat her, causing severe injury to her legs, arms and face,” the lawsuit claims.

In legal papers, the city claims Abrams kicked an officer in the chest and exhibited signs of “extreme intoxication” during the incident.

Abrams also claims that the police officers never tried to determine whether she had been raped.

In court documents, attorneys for Newport Beach claim Abrams turned down a rape examination.

Abrams was arrested and booked on charges of resisting a police officer and battery on a police officer. The charges were later dismissed, court records show.

City officials on Tuesday did not immediately return a request for comment on the Abrams lawsuit.