Anaheim taxpayers will bear the cost of a recent court order totaling $242,779.67, stemming from an excessive force lawsuit against Anaheim Police Department Officers Nathan Garcia and Kyle Smith. U.S. District Judge David Carter ordered the payment last month, settling a claim brought by a 14-year-old boy three years after the incident.
The lawsuit, filed in February 2026, detailed an encounter on June 27, 2024. Officers Garcia and Smith reportedly stopped the 14-year-old Latino boy as he rode his bike home. The boy, who had no prior arrests, attempted to stand and raise his hands when, the suit alleged, an “unprovoked and brutal” assault followed. The officers are accused of tackling the boy from a sidewalk into an asphalt parking lot, then repeatedly driving their knees into his back and “violently” pulling his arm as he pleaded, “I am not resisting.”
The complaint further stated that Officer Garcia failed to intervene as obligated by department policy when Officer Smith allegedly struck the teen’s genitals. Both officers then reportedly cuffed the 14-year-old so tightly that he lost feeling in his hands, laughing at his distress. The boy suffered a fractured shoulder due to the rough arrest. Following the incident, officers released the boy to his mother in an attempt, the suit claimed, to “dissuade” him from seeking medical attention at a hospital. However, his mother took him to a hospital regardless.
The 14-year-old was issued a notice to appear in court for resisting arrest and illegally operating a pocket bike. The excessive force suit contended that the officers had “fabricated evidence” and falsely accused the boy of crimes as a cover for their actions. The case was settled in April, leading to Judge Carter’s order in July.
This settlement comes amid ongoing public interest in Officer Nathan Garcia, who was also involved in the killing of 19-year-old Albert Arzola last December. Following the December 2026 killing of Albert Arzola, the city and the Anaheim Police Department withheld Officer Garcia’s name from the public for five months, a duration noted by the source as “much longer than general practice.” The official reason provided was “threats against the officer who fired.” However, the source highlighted that these alleged threats “vanished into thin air!” once the excessive force case was settled, and Garcia’s name was then released. Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava shared a picture of Officer Garcia on social media after a recent “National Night Out” event.
