The State - News from Nov. 27, 1985

A Berkeley police officer who drove the getaway car for a purse snatcher while working undercover in a drug investigation has been named in a lawsuit by the victim. The Alameda County Superior Court action by Yvonne Beyer claimed that Officer Stephen Odom violated her constitutional rights. The 37-year-old Merritt College student’s suit also named Police Chief Ron Nelson and City Manager Daniel Boggan Jr. as defendants. The suit alleges Odom knew a felony was about to be committed and did nothing about it, and drove the purse snatcher from the scene of the crime, with the victim in pursuit. Berkeley police have denied that Odom’s decision to help the mugger was incorrect. They said he made a “conscious decision” to drive from the scene and that his situation was “extremely dangerous.”