Quoted:

If they are hot then they are cops. Nuf said.

Riverside County has settled a lawsuit with a retired sheriff's sergeant who says deputies illegally handcuffed, beat and detained him at his home while a crew with the television show "COPS" filmed it.

The county agreed this week to pay Salvador Piña and his family $125,000 to resolve a federal civil rights lawsuit, Piña's attorney Gerald Singleton said.

Riverside County sheriff's deputies held Piña for more than seven hours during a homicide investigation, even after former colleagues recognized him, and a sheriff's technician indicated it was the wrong address, the lawsuit said.

Piña was never charged in the case, and several months later, authorities arrested a suspect who had fled to Mexico, records show.

In court documents, the county denied virtually all of the lawsuit's allegations. Officers had probable cause to detain Piña, did not use excessive force and did not in any way violate his rights, the county's response said.

The county's lawyer, Bruce Disenhouse, confirmed that the Board of Supervisors OK'd a settlement of the lawsuit on Tuesday. Disenhouse, Undersheriff Valerie Hill and other county officials declined to comment further, saying some paperwork still remains before the settlement is official.

Piña and his family did not respond to a request for comment. But Singleton said they have approved the settlement, which he called a "vindication."

"This will give them closure," he said. "I don't want to say the incident shattered their world view, but it was not something they ever thought could happen to them."

The Allegations

Piña, 56, of La Quinta, who worked for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and homicide bureau for more than 30 years, filed the lawsuit Jan. 15, 2008. He alleged civil rights violations, assault, slander, trespassing and negligence and sought damages for himself, his wife and his three children.

On May 5, 2007, Piña returned home from his daughter's birthday party about 11 p.m., the suit said. Soon after, two sheriff's deputies and a television camera crew arrived on his property.

The deputies said they would detain him and search his home. They would not tell him why, only that they were investigating a "high intensity crime," Piña contends in the suit.

When Piña persisted in asking for cause, one deputy tried to use a wrist lock to restrain him. The other pulled out pepper spray and said he was going to hit Piña with his baton, according to the suit.

Afraid he would be severely injured, Piña got on his knees and told the deputies they could handcuff him. The deputy with the pepper spray slammed Piña into a wall and assaulted him, the suit alleges. Piña says he was not resisting and was complying with orders.

The "COPS" cameramen filmed the entire encounter as possible footage for an episode even though Piña asked them to leave and never gave them permission to come on to his property, the suit says. Langley Productions in Santa Monica, which produces the long-running reality series, did not return calls for comment. The company never aired the footage and told the court it had destroyed it, Singleton said.

Wrong House

Deputies were responding that night to the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Thomas Duncan at a house one street over from the street where the Piñas live, according to sheriff's records. Duncan, of Indio, reportedly died at a home on Eisenhower Drive at about 11:20 p.m..

Authorities initially believed the shots had come from an adjacent house on Avenida Velasco. But they went to the wrong house on that street, the suit says. Piña's home does not border the house where the slaying occurred.

About midway through Piña's detention, a lab technician on the scene informed homicide investigators that the house did not match the description given officers; the neighboring house was the wrong color, Piña alleges. But officers continued to detain Piña for several more hours.

When Piña's son returned home from his high school prom and other family members returned from the birthday party, they found Piña detained and handcuffed outside the home. The officers would not let any of the family in the house, which they had searched without a warrant and without Piña's consent, the suit says.

Piña alleges that members of the Sheriff's Department later told the Fantasy Springs Resort Hotel and Casino, where Piña worked as public safety director, false information that Piña was a murder suspect and that everyone at the station believed Piña had abetted his son in committing the May 5 murder. As a result, the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, which runs the casino, suspended and later fired Piña, the suit says.

Piña and his son were never charged with anything in the Duncan case, according to county court records.

In October 2008, authorities arrested a one-eyed gang member named Jaime "Smokey" Lopez as he re-entered the United States from Mexico and charged him with the killing, according to the Riverside County district attorney's office.

Lopez is awaiting trial.

What happened

This week's settlement means a jury will not pass judgment on exactly what occurred May 5 at Piña's home.

County officials would not provide the county's account of the events of that night for this report.

The county's response in court records is general and does not address details of the incident.

The Sheriff's Department declined to release reports on the encounter, saying they are part of an ongoing homicide trial. Court records for the murder case show authorities have sealed the Lopez arrest documents on the grounds that confidentiality is needed to protect the case and/or any informants.

County officials said they would like to respond to Piña's account, but the settlement has not been finalized. Hill said the law did not permit her to discuss whether any disciplinary actions have been taken against any officers.

The suit names former Sheriff Bob Doyle and about a dozen sheriff's employees in addition to naming the county and the Sheriff's Department.

Records show that all of the employees, except Doyle, continue to work for the county. Doyle resigned in 2007 to accept a gubernatorial appointment to the state parole board.

Piña's lawyer said the settlement shows the importance of good police training and of laws that protect citizens against abuses.

"If it can happen to a 30-year veteran with the homicide bureau with a sterling record, it can happen to anybody," Singleton said.