Man jailed on accusations of domestic abuse sues Irvine

Story here. Excerpt:

'IRVINE – An Irvine man who spent a night in jail after being accused of domestic violence by a woman who was later charged with numerous counts of burglary, kidnapping and false arrest is suing the city of Irvine for $150,000.

The plaintiff, businessman Deukman Lee, alleges that Irvine police officer Joseph Jun did not follow proper law-enforcement protocol and failed to take reasonable, available steps to check the credibility of the accuser. The city denies the allegations.

The woman, Sunmee Kim, gave Jun a false name and didn't show identification at the scene of the Dec. 13 incident on Stanford Avenue, according to both the lawsuit and Irvine police. When asked for identification, she said the plaintiff had taken and hidden her purse.

Kim, 39, told Jun that she and the plaintiff were engaged to be married, that she had lived in his home for a month, that she was pregnant and that he had hit her 10 times with a wooden practice sword, the lawsuit says.

Lee, 45, insisted that all of those statements were false – which Lee's neighbors corroborated – and he repeatedly asked Jun to verify the woman's identity before arresting him, the lawsuit says.

The woman displayed injuries consistent with domestic violence, but which Irvine police now say were self-inflicted.'