Police accounts vary on Acosta arrest

When Costa Mesa police handcuffed and detained 27-year-old Benito Acosta outside a 2006 City Council meeting, many of the officers were not sure why they were arresting him but knew they had to quell an emotional situation, excerpts from depositions submitted Monday in federal court show.

Some of the more than half a dozen Costa Mesa police officers who gave depositions under oath between January and July of this year said they thought Acosta was being arrested for disturbing a City Council meeting. Others thought it was for resisting police. The District Attorney’s Office declined to press charges.

City prosecutors moved forward with misdemeanor charges of their own, but the case was later thrown out because the attorney who filed the charges was not sworn in as a Costa Mesa city prosecutor. An appeal to overturn the judge’s ruling was rejected last week.

Acosta, backed by American Civil Liberties Union attorneys, sued the city, claiming it had violated his constitutional right to free speech, first for cutting him off and then for detaining him for nearly five hours.

As officers’ depositions show, some considered Acosta a catalyst for growing unrest in the meeting. Arresting officer Sgt. Bryan Glass told attorneys that when Acosta addressed the council and the audience, urging audience members to stand in support, Acosta had created a disturbance — an offense that warrants arrest.

Reserve officer Jeff Tobin, the sergeant at arms of the council meeting, was not so sure.

“Did you consider that to be a violation of municipal code ordinance or section?” ACLU attorney Belinda Escobosa Helzer asked Tobin.

“It caused me to believe that it would result, yes,” Tobin replied.

“OK. So at that point, in your mind, could you have arrested Mr. Acosta for a violation of the municipal code?”

“Perhaps.”

Acosta was booked on suspicion of resisting police and disturbing a City Council meeting. Officers described Acosta as going “rigid” when officers grabbed his arms and neck when they moved to escort him from the chambers.

The depositions showed that when officers prepared to escort Acosta out, they grew concerned about the crowd, though they opted not to call for backup waiting outside.

“It was just the overall feeling of not having control of the situation. We felt outnumbered in a sense,” Lt. Dave Andersen said. “There wasn’t a loss of control at this point, but it was quickly escalating to that point ... We were just trying to resolve the situation, and we weren’t sure at that point if we could resolve it or not.”

At the Jan. 3, 2006, City Council meeting, Acosta, who goes by the name Coyotl Tezcatlipoca, expressed his opposition to a resolution that had been previously approved that encouraged cooperation between local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on identifying illegal immigrants. Acosta was among hundreds in attendance who crowded the chambers to show their support or opposition to the resolution.

When Acosta approached the dais, he initially argued the legislation would unfairly target the Latinos, and then he accused then-Mayor Allan Mansoor and current Mayor Eric Bever of being racists and trying to run the Latino community out of Costa Mesa. With about 30 seconds left of his allotted three minutes to speak, Acosta called for those who agreed with him to stand. When Mansoor apparently tried to stop the act, Acosta told the crowd to “do it” anyway, video from the meeting shows. Mansoor told Acosta his time was up and dismissed the meeting for a break.

When Glass and other officers surrounded Acosta, telling him it was time to leave, he stood in place, video shows. After initially moving toward the exit, Acosta doubled back to grab his speech, video shows. It also shows Acosta telling officers not to touch him while he stood in place.

According to Andersen, from the first time he met Acosta before the meeting he “went from passive resistant to active resistant and then became violent” by the time he was ejected from the Council Chambers. Even to this point, all the officers deposed said Acosta was not under arrest.

But once they removed Acosta from the chambers, and they say he continued to struggle, it was clear he would be booked, Andersen said.

“Well, when he was taken inside City Hall, he was handcuffed and arrested and placed into custody,” Andersen told attorneys.

“OK. Who made the decision to arrest Mr. Acosta?”

“Maybe all of us.”

“Did you have a discussion about whether or not to arrest Mr. Acosta?”

“No, but it was evident at that point that he was going to be arrested. You can’t fight with police officers and expect not to be arrested.”

Acosta was detained for nearly five hours, Helzer said. Police said it was necessary because they believed he would likely return and either disturb the meeting or incite the crowd into violence.

A motion to dismiss the civil suit by city attorneys was rejected Thursday. The suit, which has cost the city at least $100,000 so far, may go to trial, Helzer said.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].