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City pays $80,000 to settle brutality suit
by Dan Bialek
A woman has been awarded $80,000 in a settlement by the city of Manhattan Beach after alleging that she was brutalized by police officers in a 1999 traffic stop.
Donna Shoenkopf of Hermosa Beach, a 57-year-old elementary school teacher, filed a clam against the city of Manhattan Beach on July 2, 1999 seeking general damages of $500,000 arising from the incident.
"I am so happy about the outcome," Schoenkopf said. "I think that too many people are afraid to stand up for their rights. Unless they do, they’ll never have protection under the law."
Schoenkopf’s case stemmed from a March 11, 1999 traffic stop at the intersection of Highland and Rosecrans avenues in which she was pulled over for allegedly running a red light. In the suit, Schoenkopf claimed that Officer Bill Goodwin injured her head and face while arresting her for allegedly throwing his ticket book at him and refusing to sign a ticket.
In court in April 1999, charges against Schoenkopf for battery and resisting arrest were dropped, and a citation for running the red light was dismissed.
The police department had no comment on the incident, and Chief Ernest Klevesahl referred all questions to the city attorney’s office.
City Attorney Robert Wadden said that the city made no admission of guilt by settling the claim.
"It was a business decision. We weighed the cost of settling with the cost of going to court and decided that it was more cost effective to settle," Wadden said.
Schoenkopf said that she would finish out the rest of the year teaching third grade at the school she works for in South Central Los Angeles. She said she then plans to move somewhere "out in the country" and continue teaching.
"I want to stop and smell the roses, but I’ll teach for a few more years," she said. ER