Thouvenell was part of ’05 suit
Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/16/2011 06:45:56 PM PDT
UPLAND – A 6-year-old case filed against the city by an Upland business owner has resurfaced in the campaign for a City Council seat.
A lawsuit filed against the city in 2005 by Kenneth Beck, owner of Dineen Trucking, has become a talking point in the city’s special election because it involved one of the candidates, retired Upland Police Chief Martin Thouvenell.
Thouvenell is running among a field of 11 to fill a vacancy on the City Council.
The issue came up during a candidate forum Wednesday at El Dorado Mobile Home Park. The nine candidates who attended the forum were given two minutes each to share their thoughts on the case.
“I am about restoring integrity at City Hall for the residents of Upland,” said Thouvenell, who retired as police chief in 2005. “My record of honest service to Upland citizens speaks for itself.”
The District Attorney’s Office issued a warrant for Beck’s arrest on the grounds that he threatened a police officer.
An appellate court in 2008 ruled that Beck’s lawsuit over the arrest had enough evidence to move forward to trial. Rather than going to trial, the city agreed to pay Beck $375,000 in damages and Beck was to remove a dirt pile from his property.
The city is working with Beck, said Upland City Attorney William Curley in an emailed response.
“The City of Upland and Dineen Trucking/Mr. Beck are working on the implementation of the settlement agreement terms but nothing more – this is truly `old news,”‘ Curley wrote. “The City and Dineen Trucking/Mr. Beck’s representatives are working cooperatively to accomplish all that must happen but there is no continuation of the case itself or any new legal proceedings at all.”
Beck filed a lawsuit against the city, including Thouvenell, Upland police Capt. Jeff Mendenhall (then a sergeant), a code enforcement officer and a Montclair-based competitor in 2005, claiming he was wrongfully arrested and jailed soon after he complained that the city had illegally awarded a contract to the Montclair company.
He also claimed the city investigated the giant pile of dirt, rock and concrete on his property at the behest of the Montclair company, because the contract had been canceled due to Beck’s complaints.
“It was an illegal dumping case,” Thouvenell said. “As time went on (city officials) were unsuccessful in getting Mr. Beck to remove that big mountain of dirt, so it was sent over to the Police Department, which is commonly given to code enforcement.
“Code enforcement was working on the case for several months with not a lot of progress. Citations were issued. They went back and forth. (Beck) was being extremely uncooperative and wouldn’t do anything in terms of removing the debris.”
Beck later confronted Thouvenell and Mendenhall at a city event and was arrested in the incident. Beck claimed the police did not have probable cause to arrest him, which the appellate court upheld.
“He was drunk. We didn’t feel like it was in our best interest to do anything that night,” Thouvenell said. “We left and Sgt. Mendenhall, at the time, wrote a report and submitted it to the district attorney like every police department does in California. Always has and always will.”
Beck did not return calls seeking his comments.
To read entire story, click here.
Interesting how Mr.Thouvenell says Mr.Beck was drunk. I didn’t remember reading that in the courts opinion which was written in great detail. I could have missed that comment though.
Another glaring issue was the comments Thouvenell made to Mr.Beck that got the response from Beck that led to his arrest based on the “belief” by Thouvenell and Mendenhall that their “jobs” were being threatened.
Thouvenell’s statement to Beck was something to the effect, “we should have taken care of you a long time ago”. Thouvenell’s comment were never included in the original police report as indicted in the court transcript. Funny how that happened.
Another glaring issue was the Deputy DA who handled the case “refused” to answer questions, if he was in fact pressured to file the case in the first place. That seemed to concern the court a great deal.
The case was filed as a felony. The elements to prosecute even as a misdemeanor were lacking. There was no crime committed by Mr.Beck.
Well trained and experienced Police Officers do not arrest based on a belief someone threatened their jobs, they arrest when their lives are threatened and not after they make statements to citizens to the effect, “we should have taken care of you a long time ago”.
But even if this is old news as indicated by City Attorney Curly, maybe Mr.Curly can explain to the paper how Mr.Thouvenells thought process is also questionable as to others “rights” he violated in matters that dealt with Police Officers under his command?
“My record of honest service to Upland citizens speaks for itself.”
No Mr.Thouvenell your actions with a citizen and employees of the Police Department suggest otherwise. YOUR thought process cost the taxpayers some serious money. I am sure there are other cases out there that we are not even aware of.
It’s a well know fact that you applied double standards in the performance of your duties as Chief of Police and City Manager. Your “do as I say”, “not as I do” is well established among those who worked for you. Those who questioned that suffered the rath.
A long time friend of mine who worked for Thouvenell simply says, “Marty was a bully and tyrant” during his time as Chief.
Bottomline is, if the Upland Police Officers Association takes out a full page add in the local paper supporting Mr.Thouvenell for City Counsel, then I guess it would be safe to say all this is no big deal and OLD NEWS!!
Compare Mr.Thouvenell’s recent statements regarding the Beck case, to the actual opinion of the Court, see who is misrepresenting the facts of the matter?
I again read the case involving Beck, I did not read anywhere that Mr.Beck was drunk.
A portion of the courts opinion as to Mr.Thouvenell’s action.
Chief Thouvenell’s position is slightly different: He did not sign or prepare the police report, the criminal complaint, or the declaration submitted to secure the warrant. We have held, however, that a supervising official may be liable in his individual capacity if he “set in motion a series of acts by others, or knowingly refused to terminate a series of acts by others, which he knew or reasonably should have known, would cause others to inflict the constitutional injury.” Larez v. City of Los Angeles, 946 F.2d 630, 646 (9th Cir.1991) (internal alterations omitted). Thouvenell was one of Beck’s purported victims. He approved Mendenhall’s investigation of the incident and told him to present it to the prosecutor. It should have been clear to Thouvenell from the start that there was no probable cause to arrest Beck. Yet, he failed to do anything to stop the process that led to the arrest, but instead abetted it and threatened Chamber of Commerce members when they attempted to get involved. He, too, may not claim qualified immunity here.
Thovenell’s comments from above.
“He was drunk. We didn’t feel like it was in our best interest to do anything that night,” Thouvenell said. “We left and Sgt. Mendenhall, at the time, wrote a report and submitted it to the district attorney like every police department does in California. Always has and always will.”
Yes it would NOT have been in THEIR best interests to arrest Mr.Beck that night. TOO many witnesses around, and it appears they were not to happy with the events they witnessed. That’s why Mr.Thouvenell “threatened” them too.
Yes getting an arrest warrant is the safe way for cops to do their job and avoid a potential civil case for “false arrest”. YOU have no false arrest if the District Attorney files charges, as they did in this case.
But as you will read the DDA was not paying attention to all that was going on. Mr.Beck was. The case was dismissed when challenged.
Reading the opinion of the Court you won’t see Mr.Thovenell claims he did nothing wrong. ONCE the case was dismissed against Mr.Beck, Thouvenell claimed “qualified immunity” and felt he was not liable for anything he did. TYPICAL political BS!!!
The entire case was a “pretext” to retaliate because Mr.Beck wasn’t going to play the “political” game with the City. Hmmm, haven’t we seen that with others recently?
The Cantina debacle comes to mind!!!
The pattern and practices are clear and reasonably established regarding past and present city officials conduct.
If this case had went to Jury trial, the damage awards could have been well into the 7 digits with punative damages being awarded. It is clear Mr.Thouvenell went after Mr.Beck with extreme “malice”.
If you wish a repeat of the past, YOU know who to vote for.
Upland candidates – the Beck case was over six years ago. Did you know there is a similar unmerited and illegitimate case affecting an outstanding, now former, city employee at the present? Has our city government not learned anything or changed at all?
I am very good friends with this individual. He refuses to talk publicly about his undue situation, but people are beginning to stand up for him now. Our old city manager is gone, so the “scare factor” has been somewhat eliminated and now it appears we have a fair, reasonable and open-minded city manager that seems to want to correct past errors, blunders and mistakes.
Doug, I know this is going to upset you, but you need to know that you have an abundance of support throughout the city. You need to know there is a vast majority of us that know you have been wronged and want it to be corrected.
Like Stone said in her interview “It’s the old saying, `right is right and wrong is wrong,’.
“One of the things that immediately sprang to mind was this is one side of it,” Gavin said.
Try looking at the other side of the story.
The current city manager, council members and future council candidates need to look into the termination of the ex-deputy fire marshal. It was wrong, excessive, unjustified, unwarranted, unfair, unfounded, unsubstantiated, baseless, and so on…
Doug was accused by a co-worker of “misconduct” due to an incident with some homeless women in Memorial Park. An investigation was conducted, and in very polite terms, his co-worker greatly exaggerated what happened. During the accomplishment of the investigation of the incident, people that were not even part of the incident were interviewed. A person that had been on medical leave during the time of the incident was interviewed and a Battalion Chief that wasn’t even working was interviewed. Some of us within the city believe this was a set up because his supervisor started writing him up for items only one month before the so called incident in Memorial Park with the homeless women. Then his supervisor retired two weeks after Doug was placed on administrative leave. Does any of this sound right to anyone? Doesn’t sound right to any of us within the city! And then a lot of us that work for Upland knew that Stesleki and St Ainge had a personal vendetta against Doug. Oh, by the way, St Ainge is the co-worker that made the misconduct complaint to Stesleki which caused the investigation.
Bezanson said “It makes us look like a few of our departments are corrupt, and that’s one of the things I’m talking about is restoring integrity to our office. If we cannot work effectively and well with the community they won’t trust us and we won’t represent them well.”
And here lies the quandary with the people that are/were involved. The homeless women coo berated Doug’s version of the incident. The homeless women that Doug yelled at didn’t even complain about Doug.
“One of the things that immediately sprang to mind was this is one side of it,” Gavin said. “One of the things I think you’ll find about me is I may have my initial positions on something on any given issue, but it’s extremely important for me to get both sides of it.”
One sided? Maybe the current council and city manager should look at the one-sidedness of the current personnel case. Do not look at just the investigation summary. The summary is full of half-truths, twisting of certain facts and is extremely unsubstantiated biased. Take a look at the actual transcripts of the interviews themselves. The interviews tell the truths and the lies.
Roppel said. “We do need to consider how it was handled in the past, how it should have been better handled and how it will be handled going forward. We need to be concerned about individuals’ involvement in that matter and are they appropriate people to be in a position of leadership and trust at this point.”
Now the city is suing Doug for a determination that a city entity has made. It is a well known fact throughout city hall that the city’s personnel appeals board ruled in favor of Doug’s attorney, that the personnel appeals board was not the correct forum to hear his appeal. But now the city has initiated a lawsuit against Doug, in-order to overturn that decision. Which by the way when you look at it, a decision the city made. So the city is suing Doug for a decision the city made. Once again, does any of this sound right to anyone?
Now I know everyone was talking about the Beck case, but hear is another parallel case that was wrong from the beginning and continues to be pursued and should not.
“It’s the old saying, `right is right and wrong is wrong,’ and no matter how you look at it what happened with the Beck case was wrong,” Stone said. “It was not handled properly. Procedures were not followed, and I think right there is where the mistake was made. It cost the city a lot of money, a lot of money we don’t have. We don’t need to be spending on lawsuits such as that because someone didn’t do their job properly.”
How much money is this case going to cost the city?
People use this word in our government, `transparency.’ I used it once in my campaign. I don’t care for the word. I like the word illuminate. You can have something transparent, but if it’s still in the dark you can’t see it.”
Sundstrom said. “That’s what’s really concerning. There’s two sides to every story.
I know Doug also. We all know who, what, where and why! Lets hope new city management will do the roght thing!
roght=right
“We left and Sgt. Mendenhall, at the time, wrote a report and submitted it to the district attorney like every police department does in California. Always has and always will.”
What about the police report on the Q that wasn’t submitted and held by Adams?
“…wrote a report and submitted it to the district attorney like every police department does in California. Always has and always will.”
I heard Fred would go home and tell his wife everything he and Lou were doing. Talked big and important to impress his wife, her family and friends. Now it’s going to come back and bite him, because rumor is his ex-wife is going to be a witness for Doug.
A perspective,
Being the child of a Retired New York City Detective, and the family to a number of former and current NYC Firefighters, I grew up in an environment that protects its own. That thing called the “thin blue line”… It really does exist. I am not defending it, or saying that it may sometimes breed and foster inappropriate behavior, but I have to say it is the fabric of brotherhood that keeps them coming back to work every day and putting their lives on the line for each and every one of us. That is the ultimate sacrifice that I have witnessed. If you are not of that breed of individual then you are not really qualified to aptly judge the behavior and actions of those whose lives we depend on to keep our safety.
As a citizen of Upland I respect our fire and police and would never question the inner workings of their departments or valiant officers’ ranks. As a citizen I would also expect other concerned citizens to voice their opinions, and to question their Public Servants if they feel they are not conducting themselves in any manner that would be unprofessional or deemed inappropriate. I also hope that they would have the courage to formally take any incident, action, order, or other item pertaining to the exercise of their duties to the proper authorities and if they so desire become an advocate for the rights of the citizens they are to protect.
I have read many posts on this site pertaining to the Upland Fire department, Upland Police Department, and Upland Government. I have not however found any of the accusations and inferences of wrongdoing even when it comes to the infamous ladder (tiller) truck that is so vehemently opposed and questioned by concerned citizens, to have been championed, or brought to the courts attention by any credible witnesses. Any attack on the credibility of any Officer, Captain or Chief is an attack on the entire department, and city that they represent. As far as the old Beck case is concerned, I am tired of the dirt pile at the top of Benson that is still there to this day. Mr. Beck is not a friend of the citizens of Upland for his ability to clean up his mountain of debris. Citing perceived interpretations of any appellate court rulings are not a basis of fact in the discharge of an Officers duty in any case and can be argued from a myriad of valid positions. It all depends on which side of the table and courtroom you are sitting in. It is one thing to bring issues to light on a blog and claim our city is corrupt and putting us in danger, it is another to fight to bring proper authority and the law into your argument and really make a difference. If we as citizens are victims of abuse of power and our lives are in danger because of poor leadership and equipment issues I would hope that someone would be taking these items to the highest court in the land to get us some justice.
Get real and stop whipping up hysterical arguments based on personal feelings. I beg you not to be a bystander and if you truly are someone who has a case against someone you think is guilty of a crime, then it is your duty to bring them to justice! Don’t just throw accusations and opinions around on a blog. You people are dangerous and I am not even convinced as a concerned citizen that you have my interests and rights at heart. You just want to be heard rattling your sabers on a forum that gives you the opportunity to be anonymous and throw crap on each other. I’ll keep reading, since I am one of the handful of people who do frequent this site. I’ll keep wincing when people attack each other. And I’ll keep laughing at most of you and even might give an opinion from time to time as well. What I won’t do is make the issues seem like something they are not. I believe that this forum should be about truth and facts. Blogs are great when supported by both. They are dangerous when they get emotional and frenzied with personal bias. Try to keep a perspective. At the end of the day, that’s all it is. A perspective.
@MyTwoCents – And what would you call the FBI?
@Mytwocents – that is why Upland is in the position they are in. Ignore the problem.
“As a citizen of Upland I respect our fire and police and would never question the inner workings of their departments or valiant officers’ ranks.” Maybe you should. Correct the problems instead of being part of the problem by blindly accepting the answers presented to you by people that have something to hide!
Sorry bout’ that readers, my geography is a bit off. Location of mountainous debris pile is at the top of Central not Benson.
My2Cents, your opinion is laced with culture not fact. YOU would never QUESTION the inner workings of police and fire with the opinion of the Federal Court suggesting otherwise? REALLY??
What experience do you have as to truth and fact?
If you have been reading this blog for anytime, you submit what FACT to suggest otherwise?
YOUR first few lines you admit the “thin blue line” exsists. IT’s obvious you have NO CLUE on what the thin blue line truely is or means.
Suggesting because your from New York and your father is a retired Detective gives you some insight as to Southern California politics is laughable.
Go watch Serprico the movie then come back in here and tell us how it is.
Your comments would be like me trying to explain how New Yorkers felt after 9/11. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!
@FedUp – I told myself not to respond, and I said I wouldn’t do it but here you go. The next line was as follows:
“As a citizen I would also expect other concerned citizens to voice their opinions, and to question their Public Servants if they feel they are not conducting themselves in any manner that would be unprofessional or deemed inappropriate.’
Keep reading you may learn somthing.
My2Cents, are you suggesting to the readers that the debri pile is more of a compelling issue that what happened to Mr. Beck?
If so join Mr.Thouvenell as a partner in a debate on the “thin blue line” or any other topic.
I’ll ask a local newspaper report to accompany me and we can have a good time talking about culture and corruption.
Mytwocents, I have to agree with FedUp. Ignoring the problems of city hall and blindly accepting answers from people that have been shown not to be trusted, is the wrong approach. Once again here are the facts you so eliquently ask for, but ignore.
1. -The Upland Tiller Truck is incapable of sustaining a prolonged initial interior fire attack of a structure type fire.
–The Upland Tiller Truck possesses no firefighting pump and only maintains a minimal air pressurized firefighting system of 500 gallons of water and 60 gallons of foam.
—The firefighting system currently employed on the Upland Tiller Truck is proven to be exceptionally inadequate for structure firefighting purposes and was specifically designed for vehicle firefighting functions.
2. -The Upland Tiller Truck is the only piece of firefighting equipment responding from fire station 164 for the entire response district of fire station 164, which fully encompasses the entire northeast portion of the City of Upland.
3. -The Upland City Council, City Manager and Fire Chief have intentionally, calculatedly and deliberately chosen to place the community, residents and citizens of the City of Upland at extreme unsubstantiated risk by purposely ignoring the inadequacies, ineffectiveness and lack of capability by utilizing the Upland Tiller Truck as the only (stand alone) piece of firefighting equipment responding from fire station 164 for the entire response district of fire station 164.
–The next closest piece of firefighting equipment, that adequately meets interior structure firefighting capabilities, is over a ten minute response time away from the original time of dispatch of a structure fire type incident within the fire station 164 district area of responsibility.
4. -The Upland Tiller Truck, being utilized in this specific manner, fails to meet minimal National Fire Protection Association standards and/or guidelines.
My2Cents, YOU look at your first and last few lines of your original statement, YOU appear to contradict yourself.
WE are questioning those who lead us and are running for office.
@Mytwocents – “As a citizen I would also expect other concerned citizens to voice their opinions, and to question their Public Servants if they feel they are not conducting themselves in any manner that would be unprofessional or deemed inappropriate.’
And isn’t that what people on this blog have been doing? Like you said, keep reading you may learn something.
@Mytwocents – “I also hope that they would have the courage to formally take any incident, action, order, or other item pertaining to the exercise of their duties to the proper authorities and if they so desire become an advocate for the rights of the citizens they are to protect.”
This has been done, but city leaders continually ignore the dangers. Playing politics with peoples lives is reprehensible and inexcusable. Just to let you know, the County DA’s office is looking into the “infamous ladder (tiller) truck” issue.
@David Lutz- and others,
Like I said “perspective”. You dont wan’t to hear anyone elses.
It sounds like you have a hell of a law suit on your hands and I would love to see you bring it to court and get us the fire truck we need up there. Maybe even a settlement for the residents that are being put in harms way. I dont like the ladder truck and was happy with using Rancho’s on a shared services agreement, but hey, that is just one person in Uplands opinion and one who has more to worry about than what this site can profess to accomplish.
Wow, that was interesting. Took a nap and see what I missed? But here, let me re-post my above. Mytwocents, I am not taking any shots at you, but read my posting.
Upland candidates – the Beck case was over six years ago. Did you know there is a similar unmerited and illegitimate case affecting an outstanding, now former, city employee at the present? Has our city government not learned anything or changed at all?
I am very good friends with this individual. He refuses to talk publicly about his undue situation, but people are beginning to stand up for him now. Our old city manager is gone, so the “scare factor” has been somewhat eliminated and now it appears we have a fair, reasonable and open-minded city manager that seems to want to correct past errors, blunders and mistakes.
Doug, I know this is going to upset you, but you need to know that you have an abundance of support throughout the city. You need to know there is a vast majority of us that know you have been wronged and want it to be corrected.
Like Stone said in her interview “It’s the old saying, `right is right and wrong is wrong,’.
“One of the things that immediately sprang to mind was this is one side of it,” Gavin said.
Try looking at the other side of the story.
The current city manager, council members and future council candidates need to look into the termination of the ex-deputy fire marshal. It was wrong, excessive, unjustified, unwarranted, unfair, unfounded, unsubstantiated, baseless, and so on…
Doug was accused by a co-worker of “misconduct” due to an incident with some homeless women in Memorial Park. An investigation was conducted, and in very polite terms, his co-worker greatly exaggerated what happened. During the accomplishment of the investigation of the incident, people that were not even part of the incident were interviewed. A person that had been on medical leave during the time of the incident was interviewed and a Battalion Chief that wasn’t even working was interviewed. Some of us within the city believe this was a set up because his supervisor started writing him up for items only one month before the so called incident in Memorial Park with the homeless women. Then his supervisor retired two weeks after Doug was placed on administrative leave. Does any of this sound right to anyone? Doesn’t sound right to any of us within the city! And then a lot of us that work for Upland knew that Stesleki and St Ainge had a personal vendetta against Doug. Oh, by the way, St Ainge is the co-worker that made the misconduct complaint to Stesleki which caused the investigation.
Bezanson said “It makes us look like a few of our departments are corrupt, and that’s one of the things I’m talking about is restoring integrity to our office. If we cannot work effectively and well with the community they won’t trust us and we won’t represent them well.”
And here lies the quandary with the people that are/were involved. The homeless women coo berated Doug’s version of the incident. The homeless women that Doug yelled at didn’t even complain about Doug.
“One of the things that immediately sprang to mind was this is one side of it,” Gavin said. “One of the things I think you’ll find about me is I may have my initial positions on something on any given issue, but it’s extremely important for me to get both sides of it.”
One sided? Maybe the current council and city manager should look at the one-sidedness of the current personnel case. Do not look at just the investigation summary. The summary is full of half-truths, twisting of certain facts and is extremely unsubstantiated biased. Take a look at the actual transcripts of the interviews themselves. The interviews tell the truths and the lies.
Roppel said. “We do need to consider how it was handled in the past, how it should have been better handled and how it will be handled going forward. We need to be concerned about individuals’ involvement in that matter and are they appropriate people to be in a position of leadership and trust at this point.”
Now the city is suing Doug for a determination that a city entity has made. It is a well known fact throughout city hall that the city’s personnel appeals board ruled in favor of Doug’s attorney, that the personnel appeals board was not the correct forum to hear his appeal. But now the city has initiated a lawsuit against Doug, in-order to overturn that decision. Which by the way when you look at it, a decision the city made. So the city is suing Doug for a decision the city made. Once again, does any of this sound right to anyone?
Now I know everyone was talking about the Beck case, but hear is another parallel case that was wrong from the beginning and continues to be pursued and should not.
“It’s the old saying, `right is right and wrong is wrong,’ and no matter how you look at it what happened with the Beck case was wrong,” Stone said. “It was not handled properly. Procedures were not followed, and I think right there is where the mistake was made. It cost the city a lot of money, a lot of money we don’t have. We don’t need to be spending on lawsuits such as that because someone didn’t do their job properly.”
How much money is this case going to cost the city?
People use this word in our government, `transparency.’ I used it once in my campaign. I don’t care for the word. I like the word illuminate. You can have something transparent, but if it’s still in the dark you can’t see it.”
Sundstrom said. “That’s what’s really concerning. There’s two sides to every story.
Bye guys, I gotta go mow the lawn and get some work done. Have fun with this.
Mytwocents, I respect your opinion. Perspective is a form of an opinon, not a form of facts. The facts that I have stated above are not my opinions, they are the facts. I would like to thank you for your perspective, all though I disagree with portions of it. And it is OK if you disagree with my opinions (or perspective), but the facts are the facts.
@ Another City Worker. I can believe that, he is so arrogant and pompus. I guess if that is true, what comes around goes around.
Good bye Mytwocents. Hope to debate with you again. Thanks.
FedUp, thanks for the e-mail.
No problem. Maybe soon, the powers to be will see the truth. At least Mytwocents seems to see it now.
“It sounds like you have a hell of a law suit on your hands and I would love to see you bring it to court and get us the fire truck we need up there. Maybe even a settlement for the residents that are being put in harms way. I dont like the ladder truck and was happy with using Rancho’s on a shared services agreement, but hey, that is just one person in Uplands opinion and one who has more to worry about than what this site can profess to accomplish.”
My2Cents, make sure you edge the sidewalk and parkway. We don’t want you to get cited by code enforcement for obstructing a public walkway.
Do any of you know the truth about what happened with Cable?
Beck and his dirt pile are examples of disregard for the law. He’s a convicted felon who has taken advantage of the city and its residents.
Upland may have the worst city attorney ever! I have lost tract over the number of times Upland as had to pay money to people they sued. Not to mention claims that could have been settled for less than attorney fees. This sounds like another personal vendetta that local tax payees will settle. Of course they won’t know they settled, because the papers will be hidden in a desk.
ACU – Thanks, I love that moniker and you are so over your head on this one.
Again, I don’t want to get into this but I just have to come back for this one!
ACU wrote -…A portion of the courts opinion as to Mr.Thouvenell’s action.
Chief Thouvenell’s position is slightly different: He did not sign or prepare the police report, the criminal complaint, or the declaration submitted to secure the warrant. We have held, however, that a supervising official may be liable in his individual capacity if he “set in motion a series of acts by others, or knowingly refused to terminate a series of acts by others, which he knew or reasonably should have known, would cause others to inflict the constitutional injury.” Larez v. City of Los Angeles, 946 F.2d 630, 646 (9th Cir.1991) (internal alterations omitted). Thouvenell was one of Beck’s purported victims. He approved Mendenhall’s investigation of the incident and told him to present it to the prosecutor. It should have been clear to Thouvenell from the start that there was no probable cause to arrest Beck. Yet, he failed to do anything to stop the process that led to the arrest, but instead abetted it and threatened Chamber of Commerce members when they attempted to get involved. He, too, may not claim qualified immunity here.
You added in the part about the abetted and threatened Chamber of commerce members. Nice allegations that again are not part of any real trial or charges that have ever gone before the court. You can’t make things up or add testimony to bolster a case that was settled out of court. This is not an actual testimony of anyone. You ask me about truth and facts when you fabricate and exaggerate your own position. You guys are lying and can’t get over your personal hatred or disgruntled feelings for not being a part of the city anymore.
Serpico was a really bad movie. .. and your use of the 9/11 statement as a reference is disgusting and you are not even qualified to even think you could ever be as honored as those who serve their communities and give the ultimate sacrifice as first responders. You are vile for bringing it up. I mention my pedigree as a family reference and you defile the memory of Firemen that I actually have met in my life whose remains were somewhere in that hallowed pit! I have a fire helmet that sits on my desk from there and a resume of service to my country and community that you can never touch. Before you go off on someone on a blog, you better come prepared. Your lack of respect for anything is beyond reproach.
My yard is impeccable thank you, and I take pride in my neighborhood and the love I share in my community. Your attacks do nothing to add to the good of this community and your little candle of hate will burn out long before the torch of a legacy that I have worked for will be forgotten. I do not fear Code Enforcement or any of the brave Police that patrol our streets. I greet them. I love them. I honor them. They are part of what makes this city great.
Lastly you failed at the most important point of all… You lost any credibility you would have with me. I am the citizen that votes every time. I am the one who has never committed a crime. I am the one whose opinion you wish to sway with your attacks and references of the Beck case. You lose because as a person, I will not yield to the unsubstantiated accusations that you throw around with no regard. I am the one whose campaign contributions you wish you could get. I am the one whose name you wish would appear on your supporters list. Tell you what, you can even come shake my hand tonight at the forum and I will look you squarely in the eye. My circle does not consist of cronies or braggarts but of the respected citizens and civic leaders in this great city. Good luck trying to tear it down.
My2Cents I added NOTHING into the courts opinion you MORON. Go look at the courts opinion YOU will see those words. YOU are a simple minded elitist. GO mow your yard again.
My2Cents, why don’t you tell everyone your name is Martin Thouvenell and this is how you run when the chips are down?
TwoCents, did you even read any of the links or what ACU actually stated?
“Your comments would be like me trying to explain how New Yorkers felt after 9/11. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!”
If you bothered to read and comprehend it, he said he was NOT qualified and then you go off on a rant: “and your use of the 9/11 statement as a reference is disgusting and you are not even qualified to even think you could ever be as honored as those who serve their communities and give the ultimate sacrifice as first responders. You are vile for bringing it up.”
One other statement you made sums you up well: “As a citizen of Upland I respect our fire and police and would never question the inner workings of their departments or valiant officers’ ranks.”
Apparently we disagree with you; and so does the FBI……
Sorry Holts. You got the wrong guy. I don’t serve on this city’s staff or aspire too. Just vote and give lots of money to people who are qualified to get the job done. Not a disgruntled out of work cop like you.
Yard is perfect. Go check out google maps and look for the greenest yard in the town. That’s me. lol. Oh yeah, I forgot I was there to witness it to and I do know Beck, and am glad he is gone. That was not direct testimony relating to the first case and is not substantiated. The 4 people in question assumed and inferred the alleged intimidation when they tried to interfere with an investigation at JPs behest. Did you forget that is what really happened?
Your ball.
The name is Holtz My2Cents, and know doubt your a cop, because the average citizen in Upland would not know the name or care for that matter.
Argue the evidence as written by the court. Disgruntled does not set aside the facts of this case. But guys like you who support bad conduct or procedure only have such comments to try and set aside the bigger picture because your corrupt by nature and looking for a piece of the pie by supporting a particular regime.
But you can say whatever you wish. I obviously hit a nerve with you and you have nothing to argue the facts except what you think is compelling opinion that means nothing since you can’t argue the opinion of the court.
But again if you have your ducks in a row and can run with the big boys why hide behind a screen name?
Your ball!
Sorry Mr. Holtz. The great thing is on this blog as you so warmly live in is anonymity. I like the feeling that it gives me. What is kind of cool is that I know of you and your cronies and you do not know of me. This can mean only one thing. You know your own service record is not up to speed and you are not in any way an influence in the future of this city. You also don’t run in the inner circle any more. You and Pigs can commiserate all day long about your supposed victories with past Upland officials. You can use words like “court” or “truth” when you are just a bystander now and do not have any real influence. The dozen or so people who will read this blog in the end will not be swayed in this or any election. That is, even if they believe your negative crap.
I told you a while ago that I read your comments and know what you’re writing style is about. It is all negative. You are an after the fact naysayer that is never out in front of an issue. Someday when you can be a productive member of society and contribute positively to the future of your community you will understand that you cannot just attack the system and feel justified when the Mayor or City Manager get caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
Real political change and reform only happens from within. You do not seem to know how to do that so you are a very loud voice on this blog. It is easy to throw crap on the wall and hope it sticks. Like I said, some of us are building this city, good luck tearing it down. Likewise good luck getting a majority of people to think that attacking everything with anger will accomplish anything.
See you tonight.
Again, not Mr. Thuvenell here. I promise. Also, no games. Games don’t keep the lights on. You are so off it is laughable. This is fun though.
Just to heat this up a little more, I am not a cop either. Though I did play one on TV. LOL. Any guesses? C’mon, you can do it.
Your only recourse is to call names and try to bully your views down people’s throats. It does not work. People in the long run will not be receptive to your form of communication. You have to know that the blogosphere is not a respected reporting medium. This is just a form of entertainment. This site does not command the market you think, or the journalistic respect of anyone. Try to stop calling everyone who is not in your side of the argument corrupt. It loses its power if it is overused. I don’t break the law or drink, and more than not I try to be a good church going father. No corruption, just a guy with a mortgage and a kid in college that wants to have a nice life. Nothing more. You can call me stupid, moron, whatever you like. I have a lot of really great people in my life that make me feel strong and supported. I am very happy with my city and my community. That is the part of Upland that is not broken and will remain untouched by anything you can put up here.
I am a fan though and come to read the comments on the articles as they come out. So keep it up. Like I said, you are reactionary. You, like me, have an opinion. This is your site and your gig, I am not here to ruin that for you. Really though, try to get more involved away from here. You need to get out more and if you really have evidence against someone, use it. Don’t just blog about it. That was the point of my first comment. You claim the FBI all the time… I haven’t seen anything of the sort regarding Upland lately. They are pretty much done with this town for now. If I stand corrected in the next 6 months to year, you can say I told you so.
One thing is for sure. We definitely don’t agree on much anymore. Sorry about that.
Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t Rodney King buy a house in Upland? I seem to recall that he lived behind the old Police Department Building….
Yes SgtMilstar he bought a house pretty close by the PD.
Cable getting ready to retire from his wife’s generous Upland Fire pension! How many more fires will we see at Cable’s place?
Found out Antonucci was suppose to be fired, but threw Cable under the bus. Cable now being forced to retire.
FedUp – your data is incorrect. Try again on Cable.
@upland 911 – And what is incorrect?
Thouvenell’s really not any different than Pomierski.
Isn’t this something, have to settle with the owner of an business coasting the city $375.000.00, then get promoted to police chief, because he’s the best Upland PD had to offer I suppose, what other reason would there be? does anyone still wonder why Upland is in such a mess.
Let alone thuovie wanting to be Mayor talking of how he will be restoring integrity to Upland.