HomeMy WebLinkAbout14 CLAIM CHARLES DREES 02-04-02AGENDA REPORT
180-10 02-04-02
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: CITY ATTORNEY
SUBJECT: CLAIM OF CHARLES M. DREES: CLAIM NUMBER 01-51
SUMMARY:
The City Attorney is recommending that the City Council reject Claim No. 01-51;
Charles M. Drees.
RECOMMENDATION:
After investigation and review by this office and the City's Claims Administrators, it is
recommended that the City Council deny the claim and send notice thereof to the
claimant and to the claimant's attorneys.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact with this action.
BACKGROUND:
The claimant was arrested for alleged drug possession. At the time of the arrest, he
was using a friend's car. He claims that upon release from the Orange County jail, he
was unable to obtain his various items of personal property from the City of Tustin. The
City had not impounded claimant's personal property. Instead, it was still in the
possession of the owner of the car. The claimant alleges that it was the City's
responsibility to assist him in recovering these items of personal property from the car.
VVhile the City had no legal duty to assist the claimant, they in fact did assist and
claimant eventually was able to recover his personal property. To the best of the City's
knowledge, all of the claimant's property was returned to the claimant except a black
carrying case for a laptop computer. There is no evidence that the claimant was treated
improperly during his arrest. Moreover, Tustin Police Officers went out of their way to
assist the claimant to recover his personal property from a third party.
ATTACHMENTS:
Claim
Internet
12:5'? t,~O~ SPI~DL]N St"~RT 714 835
Against the City of Tusfln,
Submitted to (as identified from the California Roster of Public A~encies,
maii~tained and obtsined from the California Secretary of State) .
City Clerk
City. qf Tusth!.
300 C~ntennial Way
Tustin, Califo,rnia 92780
(Per Cai Gov Code 53051)
This form alleges to comply with the ~m, mtm'y requirements of Cali/ornia C~ovclmmcllt Cod~
§ 910 (Title I, Division 3.6, Part 3, Chapter 2) ·
All rcqu/red content fields are identified below in ii.let boM~ subds(a)..O~.
All required content r~sponse~ arc id~nt/fiM below in bold.
Supplemental information is in normal tim~ new roman 12 pt.
(a) The namt and po~t office address of the claimant:
Name of Claimant: Charles ]VL Drees
Post Office address of Claimann . P.O. Box 612I
Huntington Beach~ CA. 92615
Phone lqumbet of Claimant: (714) 73 I-3569
PA. OE 1 0/'5.
12-'$? bI3ODI~LII=F ~=~I~I)L. IN ~T 714 ~ ~ P.0:3,'1~5
0 The date, place trod other circumstanceg or,he occurrence or ~~ ~h~k ~ r~e
to ~e ~m ~se~e~
D~e: Wedn~day, Au~st 22, 2001.
Pla~: ~i~ of T~ E! ~m~no ~ at Bro~.
C'~'cum~a~¢~: In the eveign~ of above stated date, claims, ut wu in the fi-om pusenSer seat of
car, hereafter ruferred to as "Car'," wh~n'a Tustin Police Drparlmen~ Officer, hc~e~r rde~red
to as "Police Officer" (believed to be thc Arresting Officer or DOE l) in a pai2'ol car, hereafter
referred to as "Patrol Car," pulled the Car over at the sbovc stated place. Following a seric~
exchanges betweem th~ driver of Car Md the Police Officer, the Police Officer walked over to
the front passe~l~er seat window and requested that I step out of the Car. I opened the front
passenger Car door and as I was standin~ up, I inquired to the Police Offir~r where he would
like me to place my personal belongings'/(My personal belo,~iings are a green plastic mesh
bag, hereafter referred to as "Bag," containing clothes, compact discs mhd other personal effects
and a black shoulder strap faux leather canying case, hereafter referred to as "Case," containing
a notebook computer, floppy disks, compact discs, compuU~r files, computer peripheral cable~
and cords and other personal effects) The Policc Officer reapondcd place them on the seat,
gesturing to the front pass~ger sea of the Car I had just vacated and ~he Police Officer fonher
said, "We would take care of' them." I proceeded to sit down on the street curb b_el~i~d thc Cst
and next to the front .right wheel of the Patrol Car. L~ter, the Police Officer pulled both the Ba~
and Case out of the Car from the fro,~t passenger seat and walked to ~ rear of.the Car, The
police officer inquired to the driver of' the Car whose property he was holding. The driver
responded that it was Charles'. The Police Officer then asked me if the property, hereafter the
Bag and Case (boltt) are referred as '~'oper~* he was holding was mine. I replied yes. Thc.
Police Officer proceeded to review all the individual propci'ty in the Bag and Case. After
removing and inspecting all the property in the Bag, he placed the property on the hood of the
Pstrol Car; then, he returned the pr0p. erty into the Ba~. The Police Officer then unzipped the
Case and inspected the notebook computer and thc various contents of thc Case. He then zipped .
the Case back up and'took the Property and placed them in the rear seat o£the driver's side of
the Car.
Af~ bei2~ transf~red to tho Tustin Police Deparlmeat, the cont~nt~ of s pit down search it the
previous location was indicated on the property inventory recdpl~ When I inquired why my
notebook computer was not included? A police officer, DOE 2, indicated that property would be
handled s~parately. No ikrther discussion of the Property ensued.
Upon release from the Orange Coun~ ~'ail, I made weekly c~lls ~o the Property and Bvidence
Section (PF.~) of the Tusiin Police Department; to no avail did I ~cr reach a person. On
October 19, :1001, I spoke to a woman, DOB 3, in PBS., who indicated that only the evidence
related to the arre~ was booked. No other property was located. She pre me the case # 013461
and indicated to. contact S~. Pat Welch for any information related to the case, I left messages
on October 19, 2001 and on October ]6, 2001 at --4:00pm on Sgt Pat Welch's office phone
numb~ / voice mail.
PA(~]~ 2 of 5
12:E,~ t,E~F SPRADLIN St'IRRT 714 8~ ~
(
On Monday, October 29, 9:07am I received th~ followin~ voice mail messase fi-om SEt. P~
Welch: "Charles, TMa is SSt. Welch of Tust/n Police Department.. Reamfing your call,
reference your property. Further l~'port, thc~e wcrc only four items of property taken that night 2
separate packets of meth~phctam/ne, some needles and syr/nges and one clear plastic .box,
There is nothing in the way of clothin/or cds. You might want tn contac~ M/ltnn bocmse the
car was released to blm_ So, hc probably has your stuff. Thank you."
On Wednesday, October 31, ~12:30pm I phoned Sgt. Pat Welch indicat/n/ that Milton
lvfilanowski'$ cell phone number has the prerecorded message '~he phone number you reached
is no l~nger'in service, please check your number and try your ~ a/ain later.,.'" (AP~er *.hl,
message was. played, no voice mail message could be left.) Sit. Welch responded that the phone
number I had was the same' phone number he ha~. He had no forwardin/phone n-~her. His
only advise to me was to obtzin the po[ice report/arrest report; it may contain the residential
address of Milton Milanowski. Subsequent to this call, I have left two voice mail messag~ for
Sit Welch r~lucsting his assistance to compel Milton MJlanowskl to produce m~t turn over my
property to mo to avoid pursuing last recourse, the legal avenue. As of the date of this clain~ I
have received.no further response from Sit Welch.
Between October 31, 2001 am/November 20, 2001, more ~ 125 calls wcre attcmptod to.
Milton Mtlanowsld. About half the ~ to Milton M/lanowski's cell number resulted in the
prerecorded message above (fall text of prerecorded mcssa§e i~/n the i~mediat~ preceding
pars/raph.) I have left more than 3 dozen phone mcSsag~ and more .th_~ a dozen calls in which
he answered his cell phone for Milton Mihnowski tn his cell phone number requesting him to
produce my property and to physically turn over s.ll my property to me. Between this same
period, I received two voice mail messages fi-om Milton Milanow~,h the first one was on
Saturday, lqovember 3 at 8:22am "Hcy, its mc Milton. O/ye me a call so we can figure out a
time and a place to your your (~ic) things back to you, bye." The second voice mail message
was on Tuesday, lqovcmbcr 20 at ?:21sm "Hey, ~tmk: it~ me. Miltgn. I wa~ calIi~l t~ an-ml~e,_
a t/me to 2et your stn. ff to you today. ~o, ~o ahead and ~ive me a call my day is open and
~fle~ble pretty much-most of the day. So, anyways so I can get this stuff back to you, bye."
Additionally during this period. ! recc/v~ one phone call from Mm while I was ~t home. I
answered the phone on Wednesday, November 7, at 4:2Sam. Milton said. "At 3pm your
belo~r~s would Be outside in front of my ap~,tmcnt tomon'ow. I asked, "Ii'tomorrow meaut
Thursday or Friday?." Milton replied, "today is Monday," I replied. "No, today is Wednesday."
He said, "Oh, no I meant today." I said, "Today at 3pm you will be there to haucl over my
property?" He said, "Oh, my landlord or someone woulcl bc there. The property would bc on
my doorstep." I said, "Unacceptablc, you must bc there." He said, "Well, Charles, ! will call
you at 5 o'clock to tell you when I can do it." H/$ phone call at this point was disconnected. The
next time ! heard f~m him was a voice ms/l message on Tuesday, November 20° ?:21 am. As of
the date ofth/$ claim, ! have received no further response from Milton MJlanowski.
PAGE 3 of $
12:59 WOODRUFF SPRRDLIN SMART
(-
Milton agrec~ to meet me four separale limes/places and return all of my prop~
1't A.l~reed Meetiu~ Th~u~day, November 1, 2001 aI 9:00am at 2650 Pals Way, Lagtma Beach
(Milton Milanowski's apartment)
2~ Agreed Meeting: Saturday, November 3, 2001 'at 3:00irm at Renaissance Cafll at Tustin.
Marketplace
3'a Aireed Meeting: Tuesday, November 20, 2001 at 12:00(noon) at 26:~0 Pala Way, Lag,:--
Beech (Milton Milanowski's aps_,lment)
4t~ Agreed Meeting: Tuesday, November 20, 2001 at 12:40pm-l:00pm in front ofthc downtown
branch ofthe Laguna Beach Public Library.
Milton Milanowski never ~ppeared nor did my property a~ any of the arranged limes or places
on any of thc four agreed meeting dates, noted .above.
(d} ,4 g. eneral description of th'e Indebtedness, obllgatlon, injury, damage, or 1o~ incurred so
far as it may be known at the time of ]~rese, ntatlon of the claim:
The claim is for money or damages for loss of property/fights and not for specific recovery
of pr6perty: clothes, c~mpact discs, various personal property, laptop computer, computer
software, professional/business/client files and disks, cost of restoring and reconstructing
files, ~nterest on funds advanced.
These employees actions were outside their scope of employment, beYond what they were
authorized to do.. The department acted'in gross negligence aud with intentional and
malicious disregard in safeguarding/losing the proper~ and not providing a completed
receipt for personal property taken. (Fourth Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment - Due
Process, Liberty/Property rights - Cai Pen Code § ,~003, Cai Gov Code ~ 26940 et seq.)
T. Bu~o~ (~r~g Officer)
S~ Pat Welch
~0~ 1 ~rough 100, ~clusiv~
Claimant is l~norant of the true names of public employees DOES t-100, inclusive, and
has therefore named them by the above names, which are fictitious. Claimant is 'informed
and believes and thereon alleges that each of these public employees designated in this
claim, as DOE is responsible and liable to claimant in some manner for the ev.ents,
happenings, and contentions referred to In this clalra.
P~.OE i of 5
12:59 WOOgRUFF SPRADLIN S~C~T 835
Tha :following Is positively aSaerted for the purposes of thta claim
09 Tire amount claimed (including tht estimated amount of any l~ro$1~ectlve tnJury, datnage,
or lost, insofar at it may he known at the time of tht prestntatlon of tire e&vlm) occet~ls un
thousand dollars ($ I0,000), (thu$~) no dollar amount shall be lncludttl tn tl~ elaine. Tht
claim (tnsofar as it may bt known at iht flint of tke ~resentatton of tl~. claim) ~ould bean
unlimited civll cata
swear ar a/Tu'm that the above infonrmtion is true and correct undc~ penalty ofperjm'y..
Exccutod this~y of ~/~ 2001.
~'F"~t $ign~tre -
(b) Post Office address to which tbs p~r$on presenting tbs claim desires the hottest to bt sent:
Pogt O.O~¢e address: .P.O. Box g121
Huntington Beach, CA 92615
blOTI_t~' California Penal_ Code ~ 72 vrovides:
"I/very person who, wi~ intent Iz, dcfimui, lrresems for allowance or for payment to any state
board or officer, or to any county, citY, or district board or ofliccr, authorized to allow or pay
the same if gen. lne, any false or fraudulcnt claim, bill, account, voucher, or writing, is
punishable either by imprisonment i11 the COllllty jail or thc state prison or by a ~,~c of not
exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), or by both such imprisonment and fine."
ltI.~RNRqG: CSllr~r-ls O0Ver'~m__'mt ~C 6 911.2 pm~des:
A c~ re~g to i c~ of~on ~ ~ or for ~j~ to p~on or ~ ~o~ p~p~. or
~g ~ops sh~ be p~tM ~ p~ded ~ ~cle 2 (~m~g ~ ~ 915) of ~
~pt~ not.~ ~ ~ mon~ ~ ~e ~ of~ ca~e of ~flon. A claim re~g ~ ~y
o~er ~e of ~on sh~ be p~s~tM m provided ~ ~cle 2 (co~~ ~ ~ 915) of
~s ch~t~ not ~ ~ one ye~ ~ ~ ~ of ~e ~e of ~o~