Anderson

I. Background

On the morning of July 30, 2001, Anderson and Warner were slowly driving their own vehicles toward the Redwood Valley Parade. Anderson was momentarily distracted and accidentally rear-ended Warner’s vintage pickup truck. War- ner got out of his truck, went back to Anderson’s vehicle, opened Anderson’s door, and began hitting Anderson in the face and neck. Warner’s wife, who had been a passenger, also got out of the truck. A probation officer and friend of Warner, Thomas Cropp, was driving the vehicle in front of Warner. Cropp got out of his vehicle and came back to join Warner and his wife. At the time of the assault, Warner was employed by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department as the jail commander. On the day of the assault, Warner was off duty and out of uniform. 7142 ANDERSON v. WARNER Recounting the assault in his declaration, Anderson stated:

I heard someone yell t[o] call the police and then a woman I later learned was Mr. Warner’s wife yelled, “he is a cop”. I then said to Mr. Warner, “You’re a cop?” and something to the effect that this was another Rodney King. He replied that he was and I heard him tell witnesses he was a cop and to…