LAPD Crashes Kids' Halloween Party (VIDEO)
The ghouls came out at a Cypress Park home last October 31 -- in the form of at least a dozen charged LAPD officers, smacking select house-partygoers with batons while parents shielded their children, cowering in horror. Drama!
Prepare for smackdown.
L.A. resident Danny Moran and his wife Gaby were in fact so appalled by the officers' "excessive force" that they're taking the LAPD to court, claiming that poorly trained cops got belligerent without provocation.
"I was wearing a gorilla suit and my wife was a banana -- so it was something fun for the kids"...
... he said at a press conference yesterday. That's when a tsunami of blue showed up on a noise complaint. (Neighbors: "Monster Mash," again?!? That's it.) Watch the good times get regulated:
Looks familiar. Here's another party-crashing vid from July 2010, complete with curly-cue streamers and half the freaking Foothill Division:
Most horrifyingly, in the Halloween incident, Moran claims police used their batons on his kid daughter. Yesterday's press conference was a real tearjerker, via ABC7:
Danny Moran, who has dozens of awards for coaching children's soccer, says the pain of the officer's baton was nothing compared to the pain in his daughter's eyes. He and his wife say their daughter was hit by a baton as well."She was crying," said Gaby Moran. "She was saying, 'Please stop hitting my dad. Please stop. You are here to protect, so please stop hitting my dad.'"
"You are here to protect"? Smart kid. The LAPD has responded to the accusations by saying it's "premature for the Department or the public to make a judgment in this case." Sorry, guys -- as long as YouTube exists, judgments will be made. From the official statement:
"As part of the investigation, the Department will review the entire video tape and all the facts of this case and the officers' actions. An Internal Affairs Division review will include taking into account a multitude of critical issues including authority, participation, training, procedures, perception and credibility."
The good news: ABC7 reports that "after reviewing the tape, the district attorney and the city attorney decided to drop all charges against the three people that were arrested at the party."
Yet another lesson in always having your cell phone camera handy! (With a few exceptions. Cough cough, Weiner.)
[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]
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