Grocer, Baker Accuse Cops of Race Bias
Complaint stems from parking-meter fracas
By Perla Ni

A grocer and bakery owner on Clement Street filed a complaint last week against Richmond police station officers for racial discrimination and improper search and arrest.

“I’m filing a complaint because I don’t want other Chinese Americans to be wronged like I was, ” said Simon Wu, owner of New Sunny Land & Co. grocery store.

He and Guo Lin Yu, owner of Red “A” Bakery, say at least three officers assaulted them verbally and physically after a parking official summoned cops to the scene Aug. 19 over an altercation that she and Wu had a short time before.

Though he said he could not talk about the specifics of the complaint beyond noting it was too early to assign blame, San Francisco Police Chief Fred Lau said allegations of racial discrimination are always of concern.

“Yes, we do care about people’s perceptions and will do our best to provide services,” said Lau. “But we do need to be fair and objective while the Office of Citizen Complaints, police department and parking department investigates.”

Wu and Guo Lin Yu, owner of Red ‘A’ Bakery, claim that they were the ones searched and arrested by police officers, identified as S. Smalley, A. Aleman and L. Brophy, after the grocers complained of a parking officer giving out parking tickets on Clement Street before the meters expired.

Wu was parked at a meter on Clement Street about noon while he unloaded produce for his store. When parking official Donna Galleguillos, approached, Wu told her that he still had 10 minutes on his meter and continued to unload produce. When he came back to his car, a ticket was on the vehicle, although the meter still had 10 minutes remaining on it.

“I was confused with this status,” Wu said. “Immediately, I took the ticket and called out to get her attention ... I said she was being unfair and not reasonable.”

Galleguillos had ticketed the vehicle because the meter had looked expired, according to the police report.

Looking closer however, Galleguillos confirms in the police report that there was time left on the meter and she stated that she tried to explain the circumstance, but Wu “wouldn’t listen.” Without trying to withdraw the ticket, she admits she drove off.

Wu ran after her on foot and caught up to her. “I walked toward her and asked why I was ticketed with time in the meter and insisted on an explanation. He said she replied, “I already wrote the ticket and you need to pay.”

But Galleguillos said in the police report that Wu had jumped into her three-wheeler and didn’t let her get out. “No, absolutely not,” Wu contends. “I never was in her car.”

According to Wu, Galleguillos raised her voice and said, “I need to go. Get out of my way. If you don’t, I will call the police.”

Wu said he replied, “OK,” thinking that the police officers would resolve the dispute.

Wu waited for officers on the corner of Eighth and Clement. Two or three police vehicles arrived minutes later. AsianWeek learned of the incident through the Asian Law Caucus which helped Wu file his claim. Wu and Yu have talked to AsianWeek reporters to give their account of the arrest, in which they felt they were unfairly treated. There is no mention of the search and arrest procedure in the police report. The individual police officers have not yet been identified as to who did what.

According to Wu, one officer approached him and asked him for his ID, and without responding to his greeting, searched him immediately. “Without saying anything or asking any questions, he handcuffed and arrested me right away. I never touched the officer; I never said anything rude or do anything.”

Wu added, “I was so scared at this unexpected arrest, questioning, ‘Why?’, with the neighbors and pedestrians looking.”

At that point, he said, he saw Yu walking by and called out.

“He just wanted me to get hold of his brother to inform him that he got arrested with no reason and that he needed someone to take care of his business while he straighten things out,” said Yu. Suddenly, according to Yu, an officer “rushed from across the street and pushed me away.”

“I said, ‘Please don’t push me,’ in good manner,” said Yu. “I felt this was so unfair because I had done nothing against the law and was searched ... Is this something a citizen and resident of San Francisco should be dealing with each day ?”

Yu said he took out a pen and started to write down the badge number and name of the officer. Another officer reacted by grabbing the pen out of his hand and then grabbing and twisting his arm behind his back,Yu said.

Other officers immediately approached and handcuffed him. “Because I was handcuffed and it was so tight, I kindly ask the officer to loosen the cuffs a little bit so it wouldn’t be so painful,” said Yu. “All he did was to tell me to shut up.”

Both Yu and Wu were brought to the Richmond Police Station. Yu was released in 30 minutes. One of the officers at the police station told him that his arrest had been a mistake, according to Yu. “At that moment, I felt so humiliated and discriminated,” said Yu.

Wu was held for nearly 10 hours. Police found a counterfeit $20 bill in Wu’s wallet which Wu said came from one of his customers. Wu was charged on possession of counterfeit currency in addition to false imprisonment of the meter maid. He was released on a $10,000 bail on the promise that he would come to court a week later to face the charges. It was a week of stress and confusion for Wu. “I couldn’t sleep and was constantly scared for days.”

“If I didn’t have the money, I would have stayed locked up,” said Wu. When he finally got his day in court on Aug. 25, he found that both charges against him were dismissed on insufficient evidence.

“I can’t describe to you the feeling of being handcuffed and jailed,” said Wu. “Never in my life did I imagine this could happen in America.”

Wu and Yu, with the help of Julie Lee, met with Mayor Willie Brown on Aug. 23 and filed a complaint with the Office of Citizen Complaints against the officers. Brown has promised to investigate the case and the Office of Citizen Complaints is also investigating the complaint.

Lau said that he was not minimizing the men's complaint in noting that such complaints of disparate treatment by police have often resulted from poor communication. “It’s more of an issue of communication not clear on both sides rather than unprofessional conduct. We’re trying to improve that with language speakers for all the departments.”

“I think they should investigate this case so that as a citizen, we don’t feel our rights are neglected and that we are discriminated because we are Chinese,” said Yu.