Traffic cop targets S.F. police officer in civil rights suit

A San Francisco parking control officer has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing a city police officer of nearly running over her and then spitting on her as she directed traffic after a Giants game at AT&T Park.

Sgt. Shanika Bell of the Department of Parking and Traffic said Officer Thomas Lovrin, a 31-year department veteran, humiliated her during the confrontation April 9 after the game where the Giants lost 7-3 to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Bell said she was dressed in full uniform and directing traffic at Third and Channel streets about 10:45 p.m. when Lovrin, 53, drove through a red light at high speed, nearly hitting her. Lovrin was talking on his cell phone at the time, she said in a suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Bell raised her hand directing Lovrin to stop, the suit said, and Lovrin kicked open his car door and approached her aggressively while "launching several expletives" at her, the suit said.

"Lovrin exclaimed he should have been allowed to go through the intersection because the truck preceding his car went through the red light as well," the suit said. "Defendant Lovrin appeared to be well inebriated and behaved in a belligerent and bizarre fashion while continuing to intimidate and harass Ms. Bell for a period of approximately seven to 10 minutes."

The incident came to an end when Lovrin unzipped and opened his jacket, revealing a San Francisco police badge and uniform, the complaint said. He told Bell, "You're nothing," and then spat in her face, the suit said.

"You really just spit in my face," Bell said she told Lovrin.

The officer allegedly replied, "Yeah and what?" before he left after Bell asked a parking control officer who had witnessed the incident to record his license plate number, according to the suit.

The complaint names the city of San Francisco and Lovrin as defendants and seeks unspecified damages. They have not responded to the suit in court. Police declined to comment Thursday, and a spokesman for City Attorney Dennis Herrera said the city hadn't yet been served with the suit.

"This case is about disrespect," said Bell's attorney, John Burris. "It's pretty shocking that a police officer would treat a fellow law-enforcement officer in such a despicable way."