The Pasadena Police Department has launched an internal affairs probe into excessive force claims involving detectives who allegedly threatened and roughed up the father of a man fatally shot by Pasadena police last year.
Kenneth McDade claims that as many as eight Pasadena police officers and detectives came to his home on April 26 looking for McDade’s nephew, Marlon, in connection with a felony stolen property case.
McDade claims that police slammed him into a car in the driveway, twisted his wrist and said, “do you want me to break your arm off?” and “Do you want to turn this into a murder case?”
"They slam me against the car, twisted my wrist," he said. "They slammed handcuffs on me."
One detective allegedly told McDade, “I’m going to (expletive) your weekend up.”
The police department said it is routine to handcuff people in connection with felony investigations, but they wouldn’t comment on the other actions alleged in the complaint.
McDade, 42, is the father of Kendrec McDade, who was shot by Pasadena police on March 24, 2012 during a street robbery investigation. He was unarmed.
Kenneth McDade, who was not arrested April 26, said he recognized at least two detectives that afternoon from events stemming from his son's death.
He said he is still recovering from a shoulder sprain and was wearing his arm in a sling two weeks after the incident.
McDade's attorney Caree Harper said she thinks those officers knew who McDade was and were intimidating him.
"I think it was retaliation for his active stance against injustice in this town," Harper said.
The police shooting of McDade became the center of controversy because the 911 caller who set the events into motion that would lead to McDade's death admitted to lying about being robbed by two males with guns so he could get a quicker police response.
The case pitted the black community in Pasadena against the police department and prompted a federal civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit by the McDade family, alleging bias against blacks in the city.
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The police department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office determined the shooting justified. The officers said they saw McDade reach into his waistband so they fired in self defense and in defense of others, officials said.
Pasadena Police Department Lt. Tracy Ibarra, a department spokeswoman, confirmed the internal probe against the detectives involved in the complaint made by Kenneth McDade about excessive force.
Those officers remain on duty during the investigation, Ibarra said.
