Officer Sentenced for Battery in Drug Arrest

A Los Angeles police officer accused of using excessive force during a drug arrest last year in Van Nuys pleaded no contest Friday to one count of misdemeanor battery. He was sentenced to work for 30 days on a Caltrans cleanup crew.

Officer Timothy Saurman, 37, an 11-year veteran, also was placed on probation for two years and ordered to pay restitution to Patrick Malak of Burbank. Saurman admitted hitting and kicking Malak during a Aug. 29, 1990, arrest near Sherman Way and Ethel Avenue.

A hearing to determine the amount of restitution was scheduled for Dec. 13 before Los Angeles Municipal Judge Garrett Olney, who sentenced Saurman Friday.

In exchange for Saurman’s plea, the city attorney’s office dropped a second battery charge, plus charges of assault with a deadly weapon, filing a false report and assault under color of authority.

Saurman’s case was the first of its kind in several years to be handled by the city attorney’s office, which previously had declined to pursue charges against city police officers to avoid any conflict of interest.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said Saurman’s case and several others involving police officers were referred to the city early this year because of a backlog of cases involving official misconduct.