Couple files excessive force claims against Barstow police for wedding party scuffle

A Barstow man, Robert Kerns, his wife and four others are each seeking more than $2 million in damages from the city and its police department, alleging they were injured by officers using excessive force after a wedding ceremony.

The governmental tort claims sent to the city of Barstow and Barstow Police Department on Feb. 1 are a precursor to a civil rights lawsuit.

Sharon Brunner, one of Kerns’ attorneys, said the city could ask for 45 days to investigate the claims or deny them, which would trigger a 6-month deadline to file the lawsuit.

The chaotic scene was captured on cell phone video last month and first reported by TMZ.

At the beginning, a Barstow police officer can be seen striking a man, Christian Bryant, in the face several times as he’s on the ground. The video does not show what led up to the fight.

Barstow police Chief Andrew Espinoza said Bryant and two other men, including Kerns, resisted arrest. A day after the incident, Espinoza wrote in a letter to the public that he had “initiated an administrative investigation to determine that the actions of the officers were within policy.”

Espinoza did not say how many officers were being investigated or if any were placed on administrative leave.

Kerns and the claim filers, meanwhile, assert they did nothing to provoke officers and were having a friendly get-together when it was violently interrupted.

Following a wedding ceremony and reception, Kerns, his bride Claudia Kerns, and family members and guests went to the Quality Inn Hotel at 1520 E. Main St., where they had reserved several rooms.

Kerns’ tort claim states the group was enjoying “each other’s company” and a “few males in the group were engaging in playful horseplay” by wrestling on a grassy area outside the rooms.

Around 11:30 p.m., three hotel employees came to the rooms and asked the group to keep the noise down as they had received complaints.

As the employees and the group were talking, Kerns alleges that’s when several Barstow police officers arrived and began yelling and cussing even though “absolutely nothing was happening.”

The officers then “without provocation tased and beat” Bryant who was rendered unconscious, according to Kerns’ claim. The cell phone video reportedly started recording after Bryant fell to the ground.

Chief Espinoza said officers were dispatched to the hotel at 12:15 a.m. on Jan. 17 for a fight in the courtyard involving four males. When they arrived, they attempted to detain Bryant because they believed he had been in a fight with a woman.

Bryant resisted and grabbed one of the officer’s batons, Espinoza said. The officers then fired their tasers at him.

Larry Smith, a retired law enforcement officer and use-of-force expert, reviewed the video but said he was unable to make a “comprehensive opinion” about the officer striking Bryant without knowing the “totality of the circumstances.”

“Use of force is based upon Graham vs. Connor, a Supreme Court decision noting that the force is rapidly evolving and should be evaluated by what an officer would do under similar circumstances,” he said. “Punching to get the person to comply may be a viable alternative.”

In his filing, Kerns went on to allege that him and other members of the group were also attacked by officers, including Kerns’ wife.

According to the claim, Claudia Kerns saw her husband being hit in the face after he was tackled and tased and began shouting, “Please do not shoot my husband!”

She said she was several weeks pregnant when pushed by an officer and tased in the chest.

The allegation that a woman was tased was under investigation, Espinoza wrote in an email last week.

The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office later charged three men in connection with the incident: Bryant on two counts of felony resisting an executive officer, and Kerns and Steven Rodriguez each on two counts of misdemeanor resisting arrest.

Bryant pleaded not guilty to the charges Jan. 19.

The claims filed by Kerns and the others allege intentional infliction of emotional distress, excessive force, assault and battery and false report, among other contentions.

Attorneys Brunner and James Terrell are also asking the Barstow Police Department to release the officers’ unedited body-worn camera footage and audio recordings to “demonstrate full transparency.”

“The Chief’s letters and words indicate he knows the truth, so release the evidence to the public, not self-serving letters,” they wrote in a release.

Espinoza told the Daily Press in an email on Friday that he remained “committed to releasing the (body-worn video) once the investigations are completed.”

Daily Press reporter Martin Estacio may be reached at 760-955-5358 or MEstacio@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_mestacio.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Couple files excessive force claims against Barstow police for wedding party scuffle