Sparks

Plaintiff appeals from summary judgment entered in favor of defendants.

The complaint alleges that at the time of the incident in question, defendants Alvarez and Smith, employees of the City of Compton, were acting within the course and scope of their employment. The critical allegation of plaintiff’s first cause of action recites that around 2:20 p.m. at the intersection of Palmer and Pearl in Compton, plaintiff’s vehicle was involved in an accident with one operated by Willie Sledge; prior thereto defendants Alvarez and Smith, police officers not in uniform, were operating a vehicle owned by them which was unmarked, bore no identification other than license plates, no red lights or siren, and no police insignia or markings; at Rosecrans and Long Beach Boulevard, defendants Alvarez and Smith admonished Willie Sledge and other occupants in his vehicle to drive more carefully; ultimately, all of the participants became engaged in a shouting and swearing contest and became emotionally charged, whereupon defendants Alvarez and Smith left their vehicle in a hostile and threatening manner and brandishing firearms without identifying themselves as police officers; thereupon,…