Couple sue, claim Burlingame police mocked grieving woman (Chronicle)
(02-22) 17:24 PST BURLINGAME -- A Lake County woman and her husband have filed a $1.4 million federal civil-rights lawsuit against Burlingame police, accusing an officer of berating and belittling her as she wailed over her brother's death. Officer Jarel Peters shoved Angela Ostini into a chair, yelled at her and threatened to haul her in for a mental evaluation if she didn't stop crying, according to the suit the couple filed last week in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Peters said something to the effect of, "Listen, b -- , who do you think you are? You are not the only one that ever lost someone close to you! My brother-in-law blew his brains out two weeks ago!" the suit said. "It was the worst experience of my life," Ostini, 54, said today through tears in a phone interview from her home in Nice. "He tortured me. He took away my rights. He used his badge as a weapon against a citizen who did nothing. I just learned my brother died." She said Burlingame Police Chief Jack Van Etten had apologized to her for Peters' "inappropriate conduct" and had said the officer's comments were "insensitive and not condoned" by the department. Officers are trained to "put their own personal feelings aside," Van Etten wrote in a letter to Ostini, she said. Van Etten and Burlingame City Attorney Larry Anderson declined to comment on the suit Thursday. Reached at the department, Peters also declined to discuss the case, saying, "Why would I want to talk to you about it?"
Ostini's lawsuit said the incident happened July 10, 2005, when police were called to her sister-in-law's home on Summer Avenue to investigate a disturbance. Ostini said a neighbor had reported that someone had been stabbed, but Ostini said the only disturbance was her loud weeping at the news she had just received of her brother's death. Ostini's brother, Samuel Giardina, died at age 62 of unknown causes, she said. After officers learned through her husband what had happened, Peters put a hand on her shoulder, repeatedly telling her to calm down, Ostini said. She told him to take his hand off her and that she didn't want to mourn with him, she said. Peters then began berating her and said he had just lost his own brother-in-law, the suit said. As Peters spoke, Sgt. Jeff Downs' mouth was open, "like to catch flies," Ostini said.
"The Burlingame Police Department was aware that Officer Peters was emotionally unstable and was unfit to carry out his duties as a police officer," Ostini's attorney, Ananda Norris, said today. The department "failed to give Officer Peters the time and space to heal and grieve properly and thereby put community members at risk." Ostini said the case has made her distrust law enforcement, even though her husband, Dennis Ostini, 52, is a veteran Lake County sheriff's sergeant. "I was very pro-law enforcement," she said. "This just changed everything. It has changed the way I look at my husband. Who gets treated this way? Everybody gets treated with kid-gloves when somebody dies."
Additional article in Burlingame Daily News. (F)
(02-22) 17:24 PST BURLINGAME -- A Lake County woman and her husband have filed a $1.4 million federal civil-rights lawsuit against Burlingame police, accusing an officer of berating and belittling her as she wailed over her brother's death. Officer Jarel Peters shoved Angela Ostini into a chair, yelled at her and threatened to haul her in for a mental evaluation if she didn't stop crying, according to the suit the couple filed last week in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Peters said something to the effect of, "Listen, b -- , who do you think you are? You are not the only one that ever lost someone close to you! My brother-in-law blew his brains out two weeks ago!" the suit said. "It was the worst experience of my life," Ostini, 54, said today through tears in a phone interview from her home in Nice. "He tortured me. He took away my rights. He used his badge as a weapon against a citizen who did nothing. I just learned my brother died." She said Burlingame Police Chief Jack Van Etten had apologized to her for Peters' "inappropriate conduct" and had said the officer's comments were "insensitive and not condoned" by the department. Officers are trained to "put their own personal feelings aside," Van Etten wrote in a letter to Ostini, she said. Van Etten and Burlingame City Attorney Larry Anderson declined to comment on the suit Thursday. Reached at the department, Peters also declined to discuss the case, saying, "Why would I want to talk to you about it?"
Ostini's lawsuit said the incident happened July 10, 2005, when police were called to her sister-in-law's home on Summer Avenue to investigate a disturbance. Ostini said a neighbor had reported that someone had been stabbed, but Ostini said the only disturbance was her loud weeping at the news she had just received of her brother's death. Ostini's brother, Samuel Giardina, died at age 62 of unknown causes, she said. After officers learned through her husband what had happened, Peters put a hand on her shoulder, repeatedly telling her to calm down, Ostini said. She told him to take his hand off her and that she didn't want to mourn with him, she said. Peters then began berating her and said he had just lost his own brother-in-law, the suit said. As Peters spoke, Sgt. Jeff Downs' mouth was open, "like to catch flies," Ostini said.
"The Burlingame Police Department was aware that Officer Peters was emotionally unstable and was unfit to carry out his duties as a police officer," Ostini's attorney, Ananda Norris, said today. The department "failed to give Officer Peters the time and space to heal and grieve properly and thereby put community members at risk." Ostini said the case has made her distrust law enforcement, even though her husband, Dennis Ostini, 52, is a veteran Lake County sheriff's sergeant. "I was very pro-law enforcement," she said. "This just changed everything. It has changed the way I look at my husband. Who gets treated this way? Everybody gets treated with kid-gloves when somebody dies."
Additional article in Burlingame Daily News. (F)
- Written by Fiona
People sue police a lot.
It seems that it is always someone elses fault. Lack of personel responsibility.
However, this police officer has a history of "issues". It is documented.
I have experienced abuse from him and complained to the last Chief of Police, Fred Palmer.
Nothing happened.
So here we are.
1.5 million seem very excessive.
But there is a problem, and the lack of responce sanctioned by the City of Burlingame should be addressed.
Posted by: | February 24, 2007 at 03:46 AM
Here they worry about Tom the Tree Liability and it is stuff like this that really happens.
Posted by: | February 24, 2007 at 04:00 AM
What is happening with Tom these days?
Posted by: | February 25, 2007 at 03:03 AM
This lawsuit seems likea serious case of golddigging. How could such a minor altercation be worth $1.5 million to anyone? Can the city countersue the woman for something?
Posted by: paloma pam | February 25, 2007 at 10:39 PM
The good new is, Tom with stood, yet another very heavy wind storm. No reported injuries or damage.
Posted by: | February 26, 2007 at 01:13 AM
No car wrecks, children maimed, what a surprise!
Posted by: | February 26, 2007 at 02:45 AM