7 S.F. COPS FACING DISCIPLINARY ACTION

Critical report in pepper-spray death

At least seven San Francisco police officers face possible disciplinary
action for neglect of duty in the case of Mark Garcia, who died in custody
two years ago after police doused him with pepper spray.

The Office of Citizen Complaints also found that some of the officers who
subdued Garcia on April 5, 1996, did not follow Police Department policy
for using pepper spray and improperly took the 41-year-old man to the
hospital in a police wagon rather than in an ambulance.

The OCC also found that one officer had used unnecessary force by pushing
his foot into Garcia's back and that two had neglected their duties by
placing him face down in the wagon after he had been sprayed.

It is not clear whether the officers named for specific actions are among
the seven charged with neglect of duty for not recognizing risk factors
associated with Garcia's death.

The lieutenant in charge at the scene, Gregory Suhr, is one of those
accused of neglect of duty. Suhr has since been promoted to captain at the
Mission District station. Names of the other officers in the OCC report
were not released.

The OCC findings will be sent to the Management Control Division of the
Police Department, which recommends disciplinary actions to the police
chief. The chief can suspend an officer for as long as 10 days. More severe
punishment would have to be imposed by the Police Commission.

The findings by the city's independent police watchdog agency were welcomed
yesterday by Garcia's family, which brought the complaint before the OCC
and urged officials to take immediate action.

``We have been waiting two years, and the OCC has finally said that what we
have been saying all along is true,'' said Dan Garcia, Mark's brother. ``We
demand a public disciplinary hearing for everyone involved in Mark's death.
Each one should be fired and jailed on criminal charges.''

The executive director of Bay Area PoliceWatch, Van Jones, called for the
immediate removal from active duty of all officers implicated in the OCC
report. Jones also called on the Police Commission to schedule public
hearings within 30 days.

Mark Garcia was confronted by officers as he wandered down Cesar Chavez
Street, naked from the waist down, crying, ``Help me! Help me!''

The Millbrae man struggled with officers, who then pepper-sprayed and
handcuffed him and took him to San Francisco General Hospital, face down in
the police van.

Garcia suffered a cardiac arrest on the way was resuscitated at the
hospital. He then suffered a second heart attack and died the next day.

Although the coroner's report ruled his death a cocaine overdose, it left
open the possibility that Garcia may have suffered an adverse reaction to
pepper spray, as well as asphyxia as a result of being face down in the
police van.

The OCC substantiated the neglect-of-duty and other charges against some
officers, but others who were at the scene were cleared of wrongdoing.

The Garcia family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city of
San Francisco, the Police Department and the individual officers involved.
The suit is scheduled to go to trial in January.

1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page A22

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)