Settlement reached in alleged police brutality case



By Allison Sampite-Montecalvo

CHULA VISTA — The city of Chula Vista has agreed to pay $125,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a Navy surgeon who said a city police officer beat him as he was leaving a concert.
Dr. Eric Harris, chief spinal surgeon at Naval Medical Center San Diego, said Officer Fred Krafft beat him Oct. 16, 2008, following a Jimmy Buffett performance at what was then called the Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre.
“The city’s decision to settle the case was a business decision based on the city’s interest in managing the significant costs and inherent risks in litigation,” city officials said in a statement released Friday.
The parties agreed to the settlement Dec. 24 and have jointly filed in court for dismissal of the case.
The Harris family filed the suit in federal court in October 2009, stating that as concertgoers were leaving a traffic-jammed parking lot Harris got out of his car to help create a space to merge.
Harris’ wife, May, said in the lawsuit that Krafft yelled at Harris to get back into his SUV. Harris began walking back to his car but muttered a curse word under his breath.
The lawsuit alleges Krafft then came up behind Harris and slammed his face into the window of his SUV several times while his children watched from the back seat.
Harris was arrested on suspicion of being drunk in public and resisting arrest. His attorney, Mary Frances Prevost, said the District Attorney's Office did not file charges against Harris.
Weeks after the incident, Harris was diagnosed with depression and severe post-traumatic stress disorder because of the incident, according to the lawsuit. He was later deployed to Afghanistan.
In addition, Prevost has said Harris was denied a promotion, lost $200,000 in outside work because of his injuries and would incur at least $60,000 in medical bills.
A spokesman for the Police Department said Krafft’s actions were “appropriate and justified.”
Prevost said four witnesses came forward to corroborate Harris' story, saying Harris did nothing to cause Krafft to attack him.
City officials said the incident was caused “by the plaintiff’s own negligence, fault, reckless or unlawful conduct,” according to court documents.
The case had been set to go to trial last year.
Capt. Gary Ficacci said Krafft remains on the police force. Krafft has been a Chula Vista officer for 11 years.
“We are still confident that our officer at all times acted in an appropriate manner,” Ficacci said.
Court documents show that in 2009, the city of Chula Vista and the Chula Vista Police Department settled a lawsuit filed by Felix Espino, who alleged excessive use of force by Krafft and other officers before and after they arrested him. The case was settled for $85,000.
Krafft was not placed on leave following the incident involving Harris.
“We thoroughly investigate any and all allegations of misconduct of any employees and like many cases where there’s an allegation of wrongdoing in the department we examined what officer Krafft did,” Ficacci said.
In 2008, Prevost sued the city in federal court on behalf of Christian Morales, a former Otay Ranch High School student who said Chula Vista police beat him and knocked him unconscious in his driveway after mistaking him for a thief.
The city paid $400,000 to settle that lawsuit.