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Home My WebLink About05 CLAIM P. PINTO 05-17-99LAW OFFICES OF ~¥OODRUFF~ SPRADLIN &: b .... &RT A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION AGE; ;DA MEMORANDUM NO. 5 5-17-99 DIRECT DIAL: (714) 564-2607 DIRECT FAX: (714) 565-2507 E-MAIL: LEJ@WSS-LAW.COM TO' FROM' DATE:. RE: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council City of Tustin City Attorney May 11, 1999 Claim of Paul Pinto; Claim No. 99-16 RECOMMENDATION: After investigation and review it is recommended that the City Council deny the claim and direct the City Clerk to send notice thereof to the claimant and to the claimant's attorneys. DISCUSSION: This claim arises from an incident that allegedly occurred on March 24, 1999 at Tustin High School. A student, Mr. Paul Pinto, alleges that he was attacked by another student named D-Angelo Collins. There are no facts in the claim to substantiate any responsibility or liability on the part of the City of Tustin. The City's Claims Administrator sent a letter to the attorney for the claimant and pointed this out. It is our understanding that Tustin police officers were not present at the time of the alleged incident. In addition, the incident occurred on school district property, not on any property owned or maintained by the City of Tustin. Based on the information to date, it is our opinion that there is no City liability. ": .. f', ~ '; Lois E. JEFE~REY' O Enclosures cc: William A. Huston, City Manager 104659\1 COLLINS: Charges possible Dist ct - · FROM1 ' ' - ' friend's~'and getting along with -- was arrested under a code that the ad,m, inistration and his target.ed ii--i stipulates "Assault with a deadly c°~a'ac'h~' I ausin reat ~ur ~ottlieb also'saw a differ- weapon or assau t c g g ........ bodilv iniurv" enr sine to tzomns. l'aml ' ]'y Sgt: Bill F'i~her said investiga-.. ~,olli~s wa,s p!.ay!ng._., in, ?.ot.t- · ' n u h vi neo s urancn west uasKetoau tors believe there ~s e o g e - . .... ' dence to warrant charges. The e~caaemy pr_ogra..m, wnen., _au..n. ng '~ case has been handed over to. a prac.tice, Gottliet~ saicl Collins Of a lete o~,~_ cnuntv prnhatinn De-"losth~stemperbadlyoversome · n"~'~t'~nt"-w-h"i'e."h h-~--~--" .~-~- minor thing, in a terrifying sort ,. ......... , ...... , la_ ha_ ju- -, risdiction over juvenile cases, oi,,w,,ay. ., . .: ... ''' '" "' ':': · · 11 was a sloe to nlm I naa The case will be then be forward · · ' , · never seen before," Gottlieb · HIGH SCHOOLS: Mike ed to the district attorney s office ............. for juvenile prosecution, saia. Ne just snappea, Klna ot ---'.Pinto's complaint says The 6-foot-9 Coffins, who told exploded verbally. I said to him, · Tustin police he was 16, aver- TUstin Unified is liable. i:for actions of a':':. 'iplayer, DeAngelo col-' lins, in..:,kn'altereation ~he Orange County Reoister . · A claim against the Tustin Uni- fied School District has been filed by the family of a student '.Xvho suffered injuries during a ;fight with a star basketball play- ,er from Tu~tin High.'" :. The .family ~of Mike'pinto al-' · ' lege that Tus- tin High is lia- ble for the ac- tions of DeAngelo Col- fins, a 6-foot-9 center for the Tillers and Pinto's then teammate. The claim alleges 'COLLINS: Now' that Pinto suf- ~-a~ Inglewood feted facial '* and head inju- ries- that included a fractured cheekbone, nose and inner-ear bleeding because of an alterca- 'tion in the gymnasium after a .basketball practice. . Tustin police confirmed that ;they investigated an assault at Tustin High, but they did not re- .lease the arrested boy's name 'because h.e is a juvenile. . .- . According to police records, of- ~'icers were called to the campus 2to investigate an assault that oc- ?cuffed in the gymnasium on ,March 24 after a 6:45 a.m. bas- -ketball practice. According to the records, Col- I/ns was arrested df the site and was subsequently released to a guardian. Police determined .that Pinto had been struck on the face, hands and back. Collins aged 12 points and 12 rebounds and was selected to the All-Gol- den West League first team this past season. He subsequently has transfered-to Inglewood High; Inglewood coach. Patrick Roy confirmed Collins' enrollment at the .school, but did not address his athletic status. Attempts to contact Collins, who has changed residences sev- eral times in the past few months, were unsuccessful. '~ Collins' mother is a trUck driv- 'er in central California and his father's whereaboUts lore un-' known to coaches and adminis- t'rators at Tustin High and to his dlub basketball coach Pat Bar- rett. During his stay' in Tustin, ~ollins lived for a time with the school's basketball coach. ' "He was very polite to my wife and kid," said Andy Ground, who r~esigned as Tustin's coach last month to become an assistant coach at Saddleback College. '~He had a run-in with his guard- ihn, and I said he could stay with me until he could work it out with his guardian, but they weren't able to work it out." - Collins performed well on the ,court, but had problems off it. , "DeAngelo had a series of i'un-ins with everyone on the team," Ground said, "inclUding the coaches and including my- Self.'' ~ Ground said the Tustin admin- istration requested that he no longer house Collins at his resi- dence, so Collins wound up living in Tustin with Bob Gottlieb, a ~outh coach whose son, Doug, is a former county Player of the Year at Tustin. , "DeAngelo is a nice kid," Gott- iieb said. "I really like him as a person...We treated him like a son, and we tried strongly to em- phasize doing much better at ~school academically and making 'I think you need to find another place to live. I just can't have this.'" Gottlieb and Barrett said Col- lins moved in with a friend in Corona, and from there'eventual- : ly moved in with relatives .in Downey and then Inglewood. He has Continued to Play this spring with Barrett's Southern California All-Stars, which in- .cludes many of the area's top · . high school players including Mater Dei's Cedric Bozeman, Ja- · mai Sampson and Steve Scoggin. ,- Ground said he hopes Collins' · ' life improves.. _ _. · "DeAngelo has not had a lot of positive direction in his life," · Ground said. "He has a lot of built-up anger. He needs to find a way to channel that anger and change the way he deals with his problems." - Meanwhile, the Pinto family's attorney, Douglas Cullins, said he expects the district will deny the claim which the district has a -45-day window to respond to. : After that, he said, the Pintos .':will seek damages for severe ~- ..... physical injury and mental dam-' age. . .-- Tustin principal Larry Carlson declined to comment on Collins, the Pintos' claim or a possible lawsuit. "We can't discuss anything, because it's a student privacy is- sue," Carlson said. "But I assure you we're perfectly clean at this- end." Register staff writer Stuart Pfeifer contributed to this report. INFORMATION? If you have a comment about this story or in- formation pertaining to it, dial (71a,) 550-4636, category 6688 and leave a message. / · Dougl~D. Cullins, Esq. RE: Principal D/Event Claimant Our File · City of Tustin · 3/24/99 · Paul Pinto · S 104722 PC April 29, 1999 ' 3 1999 ~UuUn~rr, o,-,~,~.ltll & SMART Dear Mr. Cullins: We are the Claims Administrators for the City of Tustin. We received your client's claim filed with the City. ' rTustin Unified School District owns, maintains, and controls Tustin High School. The'~ City appears to have no involvement whatsoever in this claim. Therefore, the we have ~ecommended that the City reject the claim. Please advise if there are any circumstances not presented in the claim that would demonstrate why the City would be involved in this incident· Very truly yours, CARL WARREN & CO. Paul Curran Woodruff, Spradlin & Smart, Atm.: Lois Jeffrey, City Attorney CARL WARREN & CO. CLAIMS MANAGEMENT*CLAIMS ADJUSTERS 750 The City Drive · Suite 400 · Orange, CA 92868 Mail: P.O. Box 25180 · Santa Aha, CA 92799-5180 Phone: (714) 740-7999 · (800) 572-6900 · Fax: (714) 740-7992 Apr. ZO, l~J~J~J Office of the City Clerk Carl Warren & Co. P. O. Box 25180 "Ci ty of Tustin 300 Centennial Way Tustin, CA 92780 Santa Ana, CA 92799-5180 Re: Transmittal of Document(s) Claimant: Paul Pinto Claim No.' ~-16 Filed With City: 4-23-99 X Receipt of Claim/Summons and Complaint by the City Clerk's Office on: - Date: 4-23-99 Time: 1:05 p.m. By: Personal Service upon the undersigned Regular Mail Certified/Registered Mail Interdepartment Delivery The enclosed Claim (or Application to File Late Claim) was presented to this office as indicated above and has been referred to the appropriate City department for its investigation and also to the offices of Woodruff, Spradlin and Smart, Attn: Lois E. .leffrey, City Attorney. By this letter, you are authorized to commence the necessary investigation of this claim on behalf of the City. We request that you give such notices as may be appropriate to the City's insurance carrier(s) and further request that you submit your preliminary and all subsequent reports to the City, with a copy to the City Attorney and to the insurance carder(s) if they so request. Upon receipt of advice from the City Attorney, we will plan to present this matter to the City Council and/or take such other steps as are directed by the City Attorney. Other: A copy of this letter and enclosures were sent on 4-23-99 to the City Attorney and Department Head, and the original was forwarded to the Finance Department. Sincerely, Chief Deputy City Clerk Endosures o CLAIM AGAINST THE CI~ Claims for death, injury to person, or to personal property must be filed not later than six months after the occurrence (Govt.' Code, Sec. 911.1). Claims for damages to real property must be filed not later than one year after the occurrence (Govt. Code, Sec. 911.2). TO: CITY OF TUSTIN 300 CENTENNIAL WAY TUSTIN, CA 92780 Paul Michael Pinto, by and through Sara and Paul Pinto, Name Of Claimants Address Zip Code Age Douglas D. Cullins, LAW OFFICES OF CULLINS & GP~ANDY, 23141 Ver'dugo Drive, Suite 205, Laguna Hills, California. 92653; (949) 454-2500 ~ddress to which Claimants wish notices to be sent When did damage occur? The incident occurred on March 24, 1999, Where did.damage occur? Tustin HiGh School, 1171 E1 Camino Real, Tustin, OranGe County, State of California. How and under what circumstances did damage or injury occur? Student D-Anqelo Collins attacked Paul Michael Pinto on school Grounds and caused Mr. Pinto to suffer multiple severe injuries. What particular action by the City, or its employees, caused the alleged damage or injury? (Include names of employees, if Known) Presently known emolovees: Larry Carlson (orincioal), Tom McClusky (coach), Andy Ground (coach); A1 Rosmino (athletic director), Tim Donohue (Dean of Discioline) and additional employees in security and suDervisorial capacities. Intentional recruitment of a known dangerous and violent non-resident student, D'Anqelo Collins, to Tustin HiGh School to at-tend school and oarticipate on the basketball team in violation of the Governing rules, regulations and laws. Provided lodGinG and suooort of D'Anqelo Collins to maintain his attendance at Tustin 'HiGh School and oarticioation on said basketball team in violation of the coverninq rules, regulations and laws. Failure to enforce rules and regulations of public entity, including the zero to e oolicv, as to D'Anqelo Collins' orior violations which included acts and/or threats of violence. Failure to warn students, including Paul Michael Pinto, of D'Anqelo Collins' known violence and danger. Failure to adecuatel¥ and properly supervise D'AnGe!o Collins while he was on the school Grounds and during school events.. Failure to adequately and oroDerly supervise, protect, safeguard and defend Paul Michael Pinto on the school Grounds and during school events. What sum do you ~_aim? Include the estim~_ea amount of any prospective loss, insofar as it may be known at the time of the presentation of this claim, together with the basis of computation of the amount claimed: (Attach estimates or bills, if possible) Paul Michael Pinto suffered multiple severe, permanent injuries to his head, including, but not limited to, fractured nose requiring surgery, bleeding from the ears, and lacerations, abrasions and contusions, in addition to soft tissue injuries to his neck and back caused by the numerous physical blows by Collins, and extreme emotional distress. He seeks recove?v of his medical expenses, past, present and future; his lost earnings, oast present and future; his reduction in future earning .capacity, general damages and ounitive damages. Jurisdiction over this claim rests in the superior court. DATED: April 16, 1999 C: \S f\962\claim, a DOUGLAS Db CULLINS, Attorney for Claimants CLAIM AGAINST THE CI~ , Claims for death, injury to person, or to personal property must be filed not later than six months after the occurrence (Govt. Code, Sec. 911.1). Claims for damages to real property muSt be filed not later than one year after the occurrence (Govt. Code, Sec. 911.2). TO: CITY OF TUSTIN 300 CENTENNIAL WAY TUSTIN, CA 92780 Paul Michael Pinto, by and through Sara and Paul Pinto, Na~ne Of Claimants Address Zip Code Age Douglas D. Cullins, LAW OFFICES OF. CULLINS & GRANDY, 23141 Verdugo Drive, Suite 205, Laguna Hills, California 92653; (949) 454-2500 Address to which Claimants wish notices to be sent When did damage occur? The incident occurred on March 24, 1999, Where did damage occur? Tustin High School, 1171 E1 Camino Real, Tustin, Orange County, State of California. How and under what circumstances did damage or injury occur? Student D-Ancelo Collins attacked Paul Michael Pinto on school crounds and caused Mr. Pinto to suffer multiple severe injuries. What particular action by the City, or its employees, caused the alleged damage or injury? (Include names of employees, if known) Presently known employees: Larry Carlson (principal) , Tom McClusky (coach) , Andy Ground (coach) , A1 Rosmino (athletic director), Tim Donohue (Dean of Discipline) and additional employees in security and supervisorial capacities. Intentional recruitment of a know..~ dancerous and violent non-resident student, D'Angelo Collins, to Tustin Hich School to attend school and participate on 'the basketball team in violation of the governing rules, regulations and laws. Provided lodging and support of D'Anqelo Collins to maintain his attendance at Tustin High School and participation on said basketball team in violation of the governing rules, regulations and laws. Failure to enforce rules and regulations of public entity, includinc the zero toleran y, as to D'Angelo Collins' prior violations Which included acts and/or threats of violence. Failure to warn students, including Paul Michael Pinto, of D'Angelo Collins' known violence and danger. Failure to adequately and DroDer!y supervise D'~nce!o Collins while he was on the school grounds and during school events. Failure to adecuately and properly supervise, protect, safeguard and defend Paul Michael'Pinto on the school grounds and durinc school events. What sum do you .ira? Include the estim, a amount of any prospective loss, insofar as it may be known at the time of the presentation of this claim, together with the basis of computation of the amount claimed: (Attach estimates or bills, if possible) Paul Michael Pinto suffered multiole severe, oermanent iniuries to his head, including, but not limited to, fractured nose reGuirinq surgery, bleeding from the ears, and lacerations, abrasions and contusions, in addition to soft tissue injuries to his neck and back caused by the numerous physical blows by Collins, and extreme emotional distress. He seeks recovery of his medical expenses, past, oresent and future~ his lost earnings, oast present and future; his reduction in future earning caoacity, general damages and punitive damages. JUrisdiction over this .claim rests in the superior court. DATED: April 16, 1999 c:\sf\962\claim.a DOUGLAS D~)CULLINS, Attorney for Claimants