Lawsuit

T-Mobile has dismissed a lawsuit it filed against Huntington Beach after the city revoked a permit to build a cell tower in a park. T-Mobile made the move despite getting turned down for a second application to build in a compromised location, this time near protected wildlife habitat. The company dismissed the lawsuit over the Bolsa View Park location pending a decision by the court of appeals on whether a vote of the people is required for the project, said City Attorney Jennifer McGrath.

Huntington Beach and the wireless company T-Mobile held community meetings last week to introduce new proposed locations for cell towers, continuing a process that has sparked lawsuits and resident protests in recent years. The meetings, held to get feedback from residents, were part of an effort by the city and company to settle out of court amid ongoing litigation. The City Council plans to vote in January on whether to accept the tower locations, said City Attorney Jennifer McGrath.

Family members of the ex-wife of Scott Dekraai, the man charged with killing eight people in a Seal Beach salon, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against him Friday seeking unspecified damages. Joseph and Geraldine Burke, the parents of shooting victim Michelle Fournier, filed the lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court. The lawsuit also names Dekraai's 8-year-old son as a plaintiff. Attorney Eric Traut said he believed the lawsuit was the first filed by a victim's family in the wake of the Oct. 12 shooting at Salon Meritage, the worst mass killing in Orange County history.

The battle between Huntington Beach and a mobile home park over a denied attempt to allow residents to buy the land under their coaches is playing out in court. The city attorney's office responded last month to a lawsuit filed in August by the Pacific Mobile Home Park alleging the city broke the law when it denied the park owners' request to convert the land and offer renters the chance to own the parcels under their coaches. In its response, the city told the court what it had said to park owners when it denied the application for conversion twice this year.

A court hearing has been scheduled for two lawsuits against the city of Huntington Beach following a fatal crash at a crosswalk. On Sept. 7, 2010, Robert Anthony Casares rear-ended Caryl Johnson, who had stopped at Croupier Drive while heading north on Springdale Street to allow a woman and three children to cross. Casares was distracted by a laptop falling off his passenger seat, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. The impact sent Johnson's car into the crosswalk and killed 4-month-old Ruby Gould.

Huntington Beach City Councilman Keith Bohr, who for months was tangled up with financial difficulties, including a bankruptcy, a lawsuit by a lender and an attempted foreclosure on his house, seems to be getting his finances in order, according to interviews and a review of court records. "Things are turning around," Bohr said. A settlement was reached between Bohr and Los Angeles-based Cathay Bank, a lender that gave Bohr and his partner, Jeff Bergsma, $8 million to build 26 condominiums and six commercial units at the historic La Salle Hotel in San Pedro.

An Ocean View School District employee has filed a lawsuit against the superintendent and board of trustees claiming they pressured her to resign and harassed her because of her age and sexual orientation. Holly Marvin, 49, a communications supervisor for Ocean View, filed the lawsuit Aug. 19 and is seeking $1.5 million in damages. In addition to the school board — specifically naming Trustees Debbie Cotton and Tracy Pellman — and Supt. William V. Loose as defendants. According to her attorney, Betsy A. Stansell, the district broke an agreement to let Marvin move to Maryland, where her wife got a job with the Department of Homeland Security, and do her job with Ocean View electronically on alternate weeks.

A man who claims two Huntington Beach police officers choked and arrested him has filed a lawsuit against the city. Kevin Anastasi said Officers Keith Smith and John Turner drew their guns on him, choked him until he became unconscious, then falsely arrested him after he called 911 about loose dogs. Anastasi said in the complaint filed April 14 that he held a metal pole to protect himself from the dogs. Lt. Russell Reinhart said Anastasi told the dispatcher he had a handgun and was going to handle the situation himself.

A federal court has ordered Councilman Keith Bohr and his wife, Elizabeth Propp, to settlement proceedings after their home loan lendor, Wells Fargo, filed a motion to dismiss the couple's lawsuit against it. Bohr and Propp filed their lawsuit Feb. 16 against Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. because, they allege, the bank attempted to foreclose on their $2.5-million home before allowing them to refinance the...

A federal judge has ruled that the family of Allyssa Squirrell, an 11-year-old Huntington Beach girl killed two years ago in a Junior Lifeguards training accident, can proceed with its lawsuit against the city, according to media reports. Rick and Pam Squirrell filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city in March 2010, seeking more than $25,000 to cover damages, hospital and funeral expenses. The city requested a liability cap in May, seeking to limit its liability to $26,100, or the cost of the boat in the accident.