Man acquitted in SFPD mistaken identity case

By Ananda Shorey

July 17, 2007

A man who was repeatedly kneed in the eye by a police officer who mistakenly thought he was a parolee on the run is considering filing charges against the San Francisco Police Department, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Office of the Public Defender said yesterday.

Three plainclothes officers approached John Gibson, 39, on Feb. 7 while he was sitting near Market and Seventh streets. Gibson saw the men approaching and believed he was going to be attacked, according to the Office of the Public Defender.

Gibson resisted when the officers - Eric Perez, Oscar Barcena and Benjamin Pagtanac - grabbed him by his arms.

In response to Gibson's defensive actions, one officer repeatedly kneed him in the eye causing bruising and swelling.

After arresting Gibson and realizing he was the wrong man, the officers charged him with battery on two officers and resisting arrest.

Gibson spent two nights in jail and the San Francisco district attorney subsequently filed charges. A jury acquitted Gibson on nine counts of battery July 6.

The officers said they repeatedly identified themselves as police and displayed their badges.

On the stand, the officers testified that Gibson was injured during the arrest, but were unable to give a consistent explanation as to how he received his injuries.

"Their story didn't hold much water," Office of the Public Defender spokeswoman Lea Villegas said.

Gibson said he didn't know officers were approaching him and claimed they drove up Market Street in an unmarked vehicle and never identified themselves.

Gibson's attorney, Peter Santina, provided evidence that included enlarged photos of his client's eye injuries and photos of a crew-cut parolee who police believed that the longhaired Gibson resembled.

"Mr. Gibson was not only the victim of mistaken identity by the police but was also a victim of their brutality," Santina said in a prepared statement.

Officials with the San Francisco Police Department were not immediately available for comment.

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