From [HERE] It's been nearly six years since then-21-year-old Christopher Ballew was unnecessarily and savagely beaten by two Pasadena Police officers, Zachary Lujan, and Lerry Esparza – in an undoubtedly preventable situation.

The violent flailing of a baton and Ballew’s face being slammed onto the asphalt of Joe's Mobile Service Station on November 9, 2017, remains a contemporary Rodney King moment for many in the Pasadena/Altadena community.

A continuum of a pattern of police violating policy, racial targeting, and, when in doubt — ordering Ballew to “Shut the Fuck up, Dummy” before violently battering him into submission. The two veteran Pasadena Police Department officers served up their brand of policing with no worry or concern about their brute tactics. They did so, knowing that at least one Body-Worn-Camera was recording their actions.

All of them, including former Pasadena City Manager Steve Mermell, had viewed the footage — and saw no problem with it. Instead, police and city officials chose to keep quiet.

From the beginning, Ballew maintained his innocence. He was then and remains adamant that he complied with the officers — even when they ordered conflicting and confusing commands under the threat that he would get a knee to the head if he spoke again.

Ballew filed a Federal Civil Lawsuit that would take his quest to hold the officers accountable. A journey that would be stalled and delayed by the City of Pasadena's legal roadblocks, conflicts of interest, and dragging out the process in a common strategy that further victimizes.

A joint statement released by the City of Pasadena and Civil Rights Attorney John Burton announced a settlement in the lawsuit stemming from the November 2017 unmerciful beating of Ballew by Lujan and Esparza.

According to the statement. “After the settlement, the city will pay $3.2 million in exchange for Mr. Ballew’s dismissal of his federal civil-rights lawsuit.”

The settlement is among the highest paid out by the City of Pasadena, resulting from the Pasadena Police's use of force in recent years.

Ballew wasn't a gang member and had never been in trouble with the law. A look back into the evening of November 9, 2017, it remains clear that Black men are trafficked through the criminal (in)justice system, railroaded by innocuous offenses on their rap sheets. At worst, they don’t make it out alive to tell their stories.

Lujan and Esparza were patrolling members of Pasadena PD’s Gang Enforcement Unit.

Ballew was en route to the gas station when he passed the officers traveling in the opposite direction. The officers noticed his white Mercedes Benz without a front license plate and tinted windows.

When the officers made a U-turn to catch up with Ballew, he had already exited his car and was causally heading towards the gas station convenient store.

After contacting Ballew, Esparza aggressively grabs his arm by applying a ‘pain-compliance’ hold, leading him back to the car.

A bystander and the officers’ car and body cameras captured the attack on videotape. Journalist James Farr produced a documentary based on those videotaped recordings that documents the two officers’ unprovoked and violent assault on the unarmed Ballew as he exited his car at the gas station and started walking toward the convenience store.

In a viral cellphone video that recorded critical moments of the event, Ballew can be seen defending himself from Esparza and Lujan.

Ballew is seen catching and deflecting the baton from Esparza, then being forced to the ground and punched by Lujan. Esparza then struck Ballew repeatedly with the metal baton near his spine. Ballew pleaded with the officers to stop before they overpowered him and handcuffed him on the ground.

The disturbing video footage showed Esparza un-holstering his weapon and placing his finger on the trigger a fraction of a second from possibly firing at Ballew before Lujan two-handedly slammed Ballew’s face into the concrete.

Most of the assault by the police was captured on video by a bystander. That video was discovered by Ballew a month after the assault. The bystander's video of the horrific acts went viral. After considerable community pressure, Pasadena PD released six dash-cam and body-camera videos that provided additional graphic details of the encounter.

Lujan activated his camera. Esparza failed to turn his camera on.

Ballew was transported to a local emergency room. He was later booked on suspicion of assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon. After spending about 36 hours in custody, he was released on $50,000 bail.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office declined to press charges against Ballew, citing insufficient evidence.

Former Pasadena Police Chief John Perez cleared the officers in April 2021.

Both Esparza and Lujan remain employed with the department. Available public records show they continued working overtime and special assignments — including the Black History Parade.

Ballew’s attorney, John Burton, said the confrontation could easily have turned fatal. Burton said one of the objectives of the claim is to determine why the traffic stop intensified so quickly.

“This was unprovoked, nearly deadly violence,” said John Burton, Ballew’s attorney. [MORE]