Editorials

OAKLAND — City of Oakland officials have decided to pay $195,000 to a man who spent 287 days in custody after he was arrested by a pair of officers who have been accused of criminal misconduct in a case against the so-called “Riders.” 

In November 1998, Clarence Mabanag and Matthew Hornung arrested Kenneth Davis and booked him for possession of crack cocaine, jaywalking and for being under the influence and unable to care for his safety. He was prosecuted by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and sentenced to spend 16 months in prison. 

While Davis was serving time, Mabanag and Hornung were caught in the middle of allegations of police corruption. Along with two other officers – Jude Siapno and Frank Vazquez – the pair involved with Davis were accused of beating suspects and falsifying evidence. They were known as “The Riders.” 

Mabanag, Siapno and Hornung have pleaded innocent to dozens of charges, while Frank Vazquez fled the country and remains at large. 

In the course of investigating the officers, the District Attorney’s Office conducted inquiries into hundreds of cases in which suspects were prosecuted based on police reports filed by the Riders officers. 

As a result of the review, the District Attorney requested that the court throw out more than 100 individual cases, including the case against Kenneth Davis. 

The Davis case was submitted to Alameda County Superior Court for dismissal on Jan. 20, 2001, and the court immediately released the defendant from prison. 

City Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Karen Boyd said approximately a dozen cases involving some 105 plaintiffs are pending in connection with the Riders. 

“We are looking at settling (those cases),’’ Boyd said today. “We’re evaluating them now.’’