Redondo Settles Suit Over Arrest

The city of Redondo Beach has agreed to pay a Colorado man $35,000 to settle a lawsuit charging that police officers smashed the man’s nose, broke some of his teeth and opened a large gash on his head during a beating in the city jail last year.

Police arrested Chris Curran, 26, and a friend, Matthew Scoffman, about 2 a.m. June 10, 1990, after an officer concluded that Scoffman had been driving under the influence of alcohol. Curran was a passenger in the car.

Curran’s lawsuit charged that police shoved his face into a wall when he questioned why he was taken into custody. Paramedics were called, and Curran, an Aspen resident, was taken to South Bay Hospital.

Police, who arrested Curran for being drunk in public but later dropped the charges, maintained that he stumbled in the police station and fell face first into a closet door. City officials said they settled the case to avoid paying court costs, not because they believed Curran’s version of events.