Cops Under Federal Indictment for Multiple Assaults Face Civil Trial This Week in Desert Hot Springs

Jan. 9, 2012 - PRLog -- Riverside County, California, Superior Court (Indio) Case Number INC 060070

Palm Springs + Los Angeles  California:

On July 16, 2005, two members of the Moore Family (one of whom was five months pregnant) suffered a DUI Hit-and-Run auto collision at the foot of their driveway to their home in the City of Desert Hot Springs, California. The family called “911” for paramedics, and two entire shifts of Desert Hot Springs Police Department officers responded to the Moore home and performed extreme police brutality on the Moore Family; some suffered beatings and pepper- spraying, false arrests and malicious prosecutions; others were illegally confined in their own home choking on pepper-spray.

This incident, is but one of hundreds, possibly thousands, involving Desert Hot Springs Police Department (DHSPD) Police Officers of the City of Desert Hot Springs, that occurred due (allegedly) in part to racism, as the Moore Family is multi-racial (African-American, Hispanic & Caucasian) family, and due (allegedly) in part to a prior incident of alleged police brutality and false arrest in response to an employment (racial) discrimination class-action lawsuit filed against the City of Desert Hot Springs in or around 1998 by Edward Moore, Jr., who was then the Director of Public Works for the City of Desert Hot Springs.  Mr. Moore is the current Director of Public Works for the City of Palm Springs. During the prosecution of the Moore case, the Moore family’s lawyers discovered almost 5,000 pages of FBI reports,  mostly of statements to the FBI by DHSPD officers themselves. These FBI reports shown an actual pattern, practice, and even a de facto requirement, that DHSPD police officers use extreme violence on anyone who even verbally challenges a DHSPD Officer. According to the FBI reports, new officers were expected to beat-up suspects / arrestees in order to pass their probationary period.


In the 2005 incident, DHSPD Sergeant Anthony Sclafani falsely claimed that Edward Moore, Jr. threw a paper envelope into his face. In fact, Moore had pleaded with the DHSPD officers who responded to the 911 call to locate the hit-and-run vehicle. After they refused to do so, Moore held-up a paper envelope with the license plate number of the hit & run suspect in front of Sclafani and requested that the officer investigate the hit-and-run incident. Sergeant Sclafani’s response was to grab the person, strike him repeatedly, wrestle him to the ground, pepper-spray him and arrest him for assaulting the Sergeant. One by one as other family members ran out of the house screaming in response to the abuse, they were pepper-sprayed, and/or beaten by the DHSPD officers; including both family members involved in the Hit and Run accident being pepper-sprayed and the pregnant family member also thrown against a wall, and the young children of the Moore Family were terrified, exposed to pepper-spray and confined in the home. And there is another outrageous fact. Sergeant Anthony Scalfani, who is under Federal indictment and facing prison, is in fact now in charge of new police hires for the Desert Hot Springs Police.

The “Sergeant” is currently under federal criminal indictment for torturing suspects in different unrelated incidents, and set for trial in February, 2012 and had previously been (allegedly) fired by another police dept for shooting his gun off and then trying to cover it up with toothpaste; the Lieutenant in charge of the incident plead guilty in April 2011 to similar charges in yet other unrelated incident, and had previously been (allegedly) fired by another police agency for excessive force and has been described in testimony by other Police Officers as (allegedly) a sadist who likes to spray jail detainee’s testicles for fun. One of the officers had recently been rehired after being prosecuted unsuccessfully for possession of an illegal assault rifle and using it to shoot up a swimming pool. Another officer was convicted and sentenced to 130 years in prison for molesting two police explorers one of whom was his own step-daughter. Another officer was investigated concerning the in custody death of a fleeing suspect, and the actual Police Chief of Desert Hot Springs was a former convicted felon who was the most honest cop of the lot. We have a large list for you of criminal activity so large as to not fit on this media advisory.

But even these allegations, --against these officers, pales in comparison to the investigation reports of theFBI's 6 year criminal probe of the entire Desert Hot Springs Police Department which generated over 4000 pages of investigation interviews and documents obtained through discovery in this lawsuit. These FBI “302” reports establish through mostly POLICE OFFICER INTERVIEWS that the Desert Hot Springs Police Department was running amok institutionally terrorizing its citizens and accused criminals alike. Officers have testified that the department was run by a group of officers who developed a culture of violence against the community called the “MEATEATERS” who used so much violence that “all the people eating at a McDonald’s would immediately stop talking and stare” at Desert Hot Springs Officers. The Police Chief at the time admitted under oath that the Desert Hot Springs PD had the worst reputation AMONG OTHER POLICE AGENCIES of any department in Southern California.



There are reports of a POLICE SERGEANT WHO HAD THE NAMES OF PEOPLE HE KILLED ON THE JOB TATTOOED ON HIS LEG, allegations of in-custody tortures, random beatings of citizens including at least two instances involving 80 year old men, and even alleged connections to the notorious murders of the family of a prominent District Attorney’s Office Investigator.

Outrageous behaviors discovered by FBI for your review: 1. The police chief of DHSPD was convicted of perjury and evidence tampering and resigned- then rehired just before this incident after he got his felony reduced. 2. The Sgt Anthony Scalfani, is under federal indictment for torturing people and set for trial. 3. The Lt. who arrived at the scene of our case was convicted on felony charges in April for tazer torture, also investigated for a death in custody for drop kicking a hand-cuffed prisoner who was face down on his stomach then died, was accused of pepper spraying jail inmates testicles for fun, and of a coup d'etat takeover of the department by setting up the main lieutenant on cover-up charges that may have lead top the murder of a Riverside County DA Investigator and his entire family.4. Another officer was convicted of raping his step-daughter and another police explorer and sentenced to 130 years.5. Another cop was fired and prosecuted for shooting up a swimming pool with an assault rifle for fun and THEN rehired just before the Moore family incident. 6. One of the cops had the names of people he killed on duty tattooed on his leg.


HOWEVER, THE MOST SHOCKING ASPECT... after 6years of FBI investigation only the ONE Sergeant and One Lieutenant were ever indicted, and the Lieutenant plead guilty to a single misdemeanor.

Lawyers for the Plaintiffs are Jerry L. Steering and Alexander J. Perez who are veteran litigators who have obtained successful and large damages against other corrupt and criminal police departments and municipalities. They were formerly associated with the Law firms of the late Melvin M. Belli, famed San Francisco attorney who founded the American Trial Lawyers Association.

Available- Complaint #INC 060070, actual FBI documents and statements.  There is  a video file available  showing the actual incident ongoing-footage taken by plaintiffs, audio of police communications showing coverups.

Moore et al. v. City of Desert Hot Springs Case# INC 060070
January 9th, 2012 at 9:00AM  (jury selection this week- opening following week)
Riverside Superior Court (INDIO)
46-200 Oasis Street  Dept  2- H
Indio, CA 92201

Contact:  Edward Lozzi, for Law Offices  310-922-1200  epl@lozzipr.com