SFPD disciplinary cases to be assigned tonight

February 22, 2006

By Adam Martin, Bay City News Service

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - The San Francisco Police Commission tonight will assign cases involving disciplinary charges against seven members of the department to individual commissioners.

The charges stem from three separate incidents, one of which ended in the fatal shooting of a suspect by police.

The Office of Citizen Complaints filed charges on Feb. 13 against six officers relating to two of the three incidents.

Officers Richard Alves, David Seid and Arthur Gabac are charged with neglect of duty in connection with a June 29, 2004 vehicle chase and subsequent officer-involved shooting. Inspector Mark Gamble faces two charges of neglect of duty and two charges of unwarranted action stemming from the same incident.

Alves, Seid and Gamble had been surveilling a suspect when that suspect became aware of their presence and tried to escape, according to the charging documents.

The officers allegedly participated in a pursuit in their unmarked cars, according to the documents, violating several department regulations in the process.

Gamble, who was in charge of the surveillance, is also accused of taking the suspect's mother and her daughter into custody in the back of a patrol car, where they stayed for more than an hour, according to the documents.

Gabac is a traffic officer who is accused of incompletely filing a report on the collision that ended the chase.

In a separate case, Sgt. John Bragagnolo faces charges of unwarranted action and conduct reflecting discredit, and Officer Scott Biggs faces a charge of conduct reflecting discredit, based on an OCC complaint.

They are accused of improperly detaining and searching a parolee in the city of Broadmoor, just south of San Francisco, according to charging documents.

In a third case, the chief's office filed charges Feb. 14 accusing Officer Kelly Paul of "engaging in conduct which undermines the good order and discipline of the department and which brings discredit to the department,'' according to a charging document.

Paul is accused of abusing and threatening with death a woman he had dated and with whom he had a child. No action will be taken on these disciplinary cases tonight, except for the assignment of an individual commissioner to hear each one.

Tonight's meeting is set for 6 p.m. at Rosa Parks Elementary School at 1501 O'Farrell St.

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