Officer

A 58-year-old Glendale woman will receive $125,000 as part of a settlement with the city over her federal lawsuit that claims Glendale police allegedly falsified official reports and used excessive force during her arrest. Annie Kwak agreed on Nov. 30 to settle her U.S. District Court case against the city and Glendale police officers, who she alleged created a false police report that claimed she allowed her daughter's 5-pound Maltese to attack an officer on May 17, 2011. She also alleged that the report claimed she physically attacked a second officer.

Roughly 280 Bank of America employees in Glendale will either be transferred or laid off in the wake of the company's decision to close its corporate offices on North Brand Boulevard by the end of the year. The 281 employees who work at 611 N. Brand Blvd. received the notices last month, according to the California Employment Development Department. The departure of the bank, which occupies four floors in the high-rise building, will only add to an abundance of Class A office space available in Glendale.

At a bullying assembly at Wilson Middle School on Monday, Glendale Police Officer Joe Allen recalled how he was harassed by fellow students after he moved from Kentucky to California at age 10. “I had a thick, country drawl,” he said. “I wore the wrong clothing. I had cut off jeans and colored socks, and I didn't fit in. I got called lots of names.” The assembly was intended for those who may bully, for those who are victims of bullying and for the greater number of kids who can step in to report bullies to adults.

A series of disciplinary hearings kicked off at Glendale City Hall this week in the case of a police officer who is appealing his demotion from sergeant. The first in what could be up to 10 hearings regarding the Vahak Mardikian case began Wednesday afternoon. Both sides sought to paint the other as the cause of the discord. The hearings are normally done behind closed doors unless the subject of the discipline requests they be public. Mardikian was placed on paid administrative leave in February 2011 following an internal affairs investigation.

Police are looking for a man who they say posed as a contractor so he could access office buildings and steal valuables from employee cubicles. The unidentified man, who police dubbed the “Office Creeper,” allegedly stole wallets, credit cards and other valuables between June 1 and Sept. 7 at six office buildings on Brand Boulevard, Central Avenue, Broadway and Colorado Street. Similar thefts have been reported in the Los Angeles region and in Orange County, Glendale police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

A 28-year-old Glendale man was stabbed in the stomach Saturday night after a group of men attacked him on Ivy Street, police said. The man, whose name wasn't released, was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center to treat a half-inch stab wound, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. But the man refused treatment from hospital staff and left, Lorenz added. Police arrived about 9:22 p.m. to the 400 block of Ivy Street after they received reports of a fight in the area. No one was brawling when officers arrived, but a witness told police that a man involved in the fight had a shaved head.

Glendale has filed a lawsuit against a man who struck a police motorcycle officer while driving on a local freeway, according to court records and city officials. Glendale Police Officer Roman Fernandez sustained unspecified bodily injuries after Roman Areas struck his motorcycle Sept. 10, 2010, according to the lawsuit, which was filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court. City officials would not elaborate on the officer's injuries, adding that medical records of employees are confidential.

A 72-year-old Glendale man testified Wednesday that two police officers used excessive force two years ago when they handcuffed him and broke his arm inside the Glendale Galleria. Asadoor Mirzaeyan was wearing a sling on his right arm in U.S. District Court, where his trial began against Officers Aaron Zeigler and Francisco Martinez, who he claims used excessive force and covered up accounts of the incident during his May 9, 2010, arrest. He testified with the help of an Armenian-translation interpreter that he took prescription pills that day and walked to the mall with a friend and met another acquaintance, who shared a half-cup of liquor with him. On his way out of the mall, Mirzaeyan said the officers, who were dressed in plain clothes and seated at a coffee shop, asked him to leave the mall numerous times but never identified themselves as officers.

Five police recruits and a four-legged, 2 1/2 -year-old canine colleague were the latest to join the Glendale Police Department on Tuesday. Scott Wessel, James Brand, Ian Torley, Alex Mena and Carlos Soriano, who became a reserve officer, were sworn at a one-of-a kind ceremony in which the department's newest German shepherd, Branko, also earned a badge to carry on his collar. “He is truly official now,” Police Chief Ron De Pompa said of Branko. Prior to becoming Branko's handler, Officer Alex Rolando worked for more than 14 years with the department and spent at least 2,000 hours with Glendale's K-9 unit.

Six Glendale police officers were recognized Tuesday for their crackdown on motorists driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The City Council honored officers Bryan Duncan, Art Obrusnik, Matt Bolton, Marc Tarzia, Ryan Gunn and Ben Bateman, who make up the Police Department's DUI team. The team has “worked tirelessly for the last 8 1/2 months,” Duncan said. The team works odd hours to fit the demands of apprehending DUI suspects, he said, often spending nights sleeping at the police station, only to wake up the following morning and go to court and work again.