Tustin : Malice Alleged in Jailing of Woman

The Police Department arrested on traffic warrants a mother of four who is nine months’ pregnant to “get back at her” for filing a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city, and the woman will have to spend Christmas in jail, her attorney charged Tuesday.

Police officials vehemently denied that the arrest of Lori De La Riva, booked on Dec. 18 after a routine check on her driver’s license revealed two warrants for her arrest for driving with a suspended license and failing to make court appearances, was in any way connected to a multimillion-dollar lawsuit charging Tustin with negligence after her 4-year-old son died in an apartment fire.

Richard C. Gilbert, an attorney for De La Riva, charged that police arrested her in retaliation for the lawsuit she filed against the city last year after the death of her son Jimmy, who was killed in the May 11, 1990, fire. The suit charges that city officials wrongly prevented De La Riva’s husband from saving their child by prohibiting him from entering the burning building.

Gilbert added that her arrest on the traffic warrants and her inability to come up with the $10,000 bail means that “she won’t be able to spend Christmas with her four children.” In addition, he said, “she’s about to give birth any day now.”

Police said De La Riva was arrested Dec. 18 after it was discovered that she had five parking violations totaling more than $280. When she arrived to pay the fine, an officer made a routine check of her license and discovered the outstanding warrants.

“This is selective enforcement,” Gilbert said. “She’s being treated unfairly. It’s nothing but harassment on the part of the Tustin Police Department.”

But Tustin Police Capt. Steve Foster denied that the department was trying to harass De La Riva or spoil her holiday. “That’s totally bogus . . . ludicrous,” he said. “The officer who processed her . . . had no idea about” the lawsuit, Foster said.

Jimmy De La Riva’s death captured headlines and sparked a citizen’s movement calling for a mandatory sprinkler law to cover all Tustin apartments. The family’s apartment was not equipped with sprinklers. As firefighters battled the blaze, Joseph De La Riva tried to re-enter the apartment after hearing his son’s cries for help, but was restrained by police officers.

Gilbert said the civil suit, which has not yet gone trial, could possibly set a precedent because it will decide whether a police officer can stop a citizen from saving the life of his own child on his own property. The family is seeking several million dollars in damages.