LOUD CROWD DEMANDS POLICE BE PUNISHED

Friends, family of pepper-sprayed prisoner who died

Two-hundred protesters mobbed a police commission meet ing, demanding the
harshest possi ble penalties for police officers fac ing charges of
misconduct in the case of Mark Garcia, who died two years ago after being
doused with pepper spray.

Among the demonstrators who spoke out against police brutality at Wednesday
evening's meeting were two of Garcia's brothers.

One, Daniel Garcia, held up a strip of orange paper bearing the word
"FUNERAL," a sign intend ed for the car window of a mourner in a funeral
procession.

"This is what I have left of my brother," he told the commission. "I want
all of you to remember this pain will never stop for my family, but we can
prevent it happening to your family."

Ron Garcia said his brother Mark's children are still suffering from the
loss of their father.

"My brother's daughter, age 12, carries Mark's two-year-old pillow around
as a security blanket," he said. "His 17-year-old daughter has a phobia of
police now."

He called for swift, severe pun ishment of the officers involved.

"Do not give in to political pres sure," he said. "If you make the right
decision, the police depart ment will make the changes so deaths due to
gross negligence will not happen."

After the Garcia brothers spoke, the crowd became so raucous that
Commission President Pat Nor man adjourned the meeting.

The angry protest came a week after the Office of Citizen Com plaints, The
City's police watchdog agency, completed its 18-month in vestigation of the
incident.

Though the OCC's report has not been made public, Chief Fred Lau has
confirmed that it recom mends that Gregory Suhr -- who was the lieutenant
in charge of the arrest and has since been promoted to captain of the
Mission District precinct -- be charged with neglect of duty and improper
conduct.

Mark Garcia, a drug counselor who had struggled with addiction himself, was
arrested April 5, 1996, when he was found standing in the middle of Cesar
Chavez Street near Folsom Street, naked from the waist down, shouting at
cars and crying "Help me! Help me!"

Police under Suhr's command sprayed Garcia with pepper spray repeatedly
after he attacked an of ficer with a glass crack pipe or a bottle. The
41-year-old, 317-pound Garcia, who was under the influ ence of cocaine, had
a heart attack while handcuffed and lying face down in the back of a police
van. He died the next day at San Fran cisco General Hospital.

The OCC report names at least six other officers involved in the incident,
said Bruce Kapsack, the attorney for Garcia's family, who has read the report.

He said he was pleased with the OCC's findings, which support the Garcia
family's belief that the po lice were at fault in the death, vio lating
their own procedures by us ing too much pepper spray, not washing Garcia's
face after the pepper spraying, not using an am bulance to take him to the
hospital, and laying him on his stomach, rather than sitting him upright.
"If they had followed all proto col and Garcia had still died, the family
would not be here," Kap sack said.

Mary Dunlap, executive direc tor of the OCC, would not com ment on the
content of the report, but said both the family, which brought the
complaint, and the of ficers accused now have an oppor tunity to look over
the report and request a review by the OCC if they believe the findings are
inaccurate.

After that, probably sometime in August, the report will be sent to the
police department's manage ment control division which rec ommends
disciplinary actions to the police chief. The chief can im pose suspensions
of up to 10 days or refer the case to the police com mission for more
severe punish ments, including dismissal.

The district attorney's office has declined to criminally prosecute the case.

Assistant Police Chief Earl Sanders counseled patience with the months-long
investigation and discipline process. "If he is to be disciplined, the
process will do that," he said. "The process works."

1998 San Francisco Examiner

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski