Fagan father and son in cuffs, fajitas nowhere to be found

A screaming match between former San Francisco Police Chief Alex Fagan Sr. and his son, Alex Jr., at a resort in suburban Phoenix ended with both men in handcuffs and the younger Fagan in custody on charges of punching a security guard and threatening police officers, authorities said Friday.

The fight between father and son Thursday night in a Scottsdale hotel erupted more than a year after the Fagans were embroiled in San Francisco's infamous fajita controversy. Fagan Jr., a 24-year-old former rookie cop in his father's department, is awaiting trial for an alleged assault on two men over a bag of takeout food in November 2002.

The 53-year-old Fagan Sr., technically still a member of the Police Department but now running the city Office of Emergency Services, was indicted on charges of conspiring to obstruct the investigation of that incident but was quickly cleared and this month was declared "factually innocent."

Now, the two men find themselves in the thick of it again. Police in Scottsdale, a wealthy enclave on the southeastern edge of Phoenix, say they believe that dad and son may have been arguing over the fajita brouhaha when things got out of hand.

Scottsdale police said the Fagans were in town for Giants spring training and were in the Chaparral Suites Hotel's restaurant, the Fourth Floor Grille and Sports Lounge. About 8:30 p.m. Thursday, police said, the two started loudly exchanging words at their table, then went out on a fourth-floor catwalk.

Tom Silverman, general manager of the hotel, said restaurant staffers became alarmed and called the front office, which sent a manager to investigate.

Fagan Jr. punched an exit sign, then punched the manager, police said. "That's when we got very concerned," Silverman said.

Other employees and a patron held Fagan Jr. down as police were called. When officers arrived, Fagan Jr. started making threats, said Scottsdale Detective Sam Bailey.

"Junior started mouthing off, saying, 'Nobody is taking me anywhere -- I'll kill you guys,' '' Bailey said.

The former officer appeared to be drunk and would not get up on his own, Bailey said. "He acted lifeless, so they had to lift him to his feet when they put the handcuffs on him,'' he said.

Fagan Jr. was booked on five misdemeanor counts, including disorderly assault, disorderly conduct and three counts of making threats.

As Fagan Jr. was being arrested, his father appeared, also apparently drunk, and tried to interfere, Bailey said.

"The dad showed up and tried to get in the middle of it,'' he said. "He claimed it was all a misunderstanding -- but he didn't listen to the security (guards). The dad is lucky he didn't get arrested.

"He identified himself," Bailey added. "A couple of times he said, 'I'm a chief of police.'

"He thinks he was going to get more attention that way. But the cops, we hear that all the time. They were telling him to step back. He didn't want to. They had to put their hands on him to move him.

"Eventually, he had handcuffs on him because he was not obeying commands, '' Bailey said.

Fagan Sr. was briefly detained but not arrested, Bailey said. "They took the handcuffs off later when he got calmed down.''

Two security officials suffered bruises, Bailey said, and Fagan Jr. suffered a scrape on his forehead.

In San Francisco, Fagan Jr.'s attorney, Jim Collins, said Friday he had spoken briefly with his client but declined to comment until he knows more about the case. Fagan Sr. could not be reached for comment.

Mayor Gavin Newsom, who appointed Fagan Sr. to the Office of Emergency Services in January, flew back to San Francisco on Friday night after a trip to the East Coast.

"We're going to get all the information we can about this before we make any comment,'' said Newsom spokesman Peter Ragone shortly after returning to San Francisco with the mayor. "The mayor is aware of it."

The incident is the latest legal problem for the younger Fagan, who is still facing misdemeanor assault charges stemming from the Nov. 20, 2002, fajita incident on Union Street. He and two other men, Officer Matthew Tonsing and former Officer David Lee, have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

Fagan Jr. will have to return to Arizona at an unspecified date for a court hearing.

The elder Fagan was police chief from March 2003 until January of this year, when Newsom named him to his $195,290-a-year job coordinating the city's emergency planning.

Two months after Fagan left the chief's job, Superior Court Judge Kay Tsenin declared that he was "factually innocent" of last year's conspiracy charges and ordered that all records about the case, including his booking mug shot, be destroyed.

Fagan Sr. has had two previous run-ins with the law that led to police discipline, one of which was alcohol-related.

On July 13, 1990, Fagan Sr. was arrested after a drunken confrontation on Interstate 280 in San Mateo County when he pushed and grabbed one California Highway Patrol officer and resisted efforts by another to subdue him. He was suspended from the Police Department for 15 days and put in an 18-month alcohol treatment program.

Over the Labor Day weekend in 2000, Fagan Sr. got into two accidents on his way home from a Giants game, including one in which he left the scene after giving his name to the motorist. That incident earned him a 30-day suspension from the force.

Silverman, the Scottsdale hotel manager, said he was well aware of the fajita incident in San Francisco and knew the Fagans from their reputation.

"It's very unusual," he said of the incident Thursday night. "I couldn't tell you the last time we had a situation like this.''

Chronicle staff writer Henry Schulman

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