Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Los Angeles Officer Charged With Pummeling Unarmed Man
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
June 10, 2020

Share

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles police officer has been charged with assault for punching an unarmed trespassing suspect more than a dozen times in an encounter caught on video by a bystander, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Officer Frank Hernandez was charged with assault under color of authority.

“While we have a fiduciary responsibility to provide our members with assistance through the internal affairs administrative process, what we saw on that video was unacceptable and is not what we are trained to do.” — Los Angeles Police Protective League Board of Directors 
Video from a bystander and cameras worn by officers shows Hernandez pummeling the man on April 27 as he stood with his hands behind his back, as if he was going to be handcuffed.
The charge comes less than a week after thousands of protesters galvanized by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis called for the ouster of District Attorney Jackie Lacey for doing little to prosecute police officers for shootings and other violence on the job.
Black Lives Matter and other groups have criticized Lacey, who is black, for not bringing charges in hundreds of police shootings during her more than seven years running the largest local prosecutors office in the U.S.
Lacey has said she has done the best she can but is up against laws that allow officers to use deadly force and make it difficult to bring charges. She said she’s prosecuted more than 20 police officers for use of force and has the only pending case in the state for an officer-involved shooting.
Lacey is up for re-election in a campaign that has focused on prosecuting police brutality and criminal justice reforms.
Hernandez, 49, could face up to three years in county jail if convicted of the felony.
The union representing Hernandez issued a rare statement condemning what was portrayed in the videos.
“While we have a fiduciary responsibility to provide our members with assistance through the internal affairs administrative process, what we saw on that video was unacceptable and is not what we are trained to do” the Los Angeles Police Protective League Board of Directors said.

The Incident Occurred When Police Were Called About a Man Trespassing

It was not immediately clear if Hernandez had a defense lawyer who could provide comment.
The incident occurred when police were called about a man trespassing in a vacant lot in the Boyle Heights neighborhood.
Hernandez and a female partner arrived, crouched through a hole in a chain link fence and approached the suspect, telling him to leave, according to videos provided by police. The man, who was wearing a Los Angeles Rams jersey, cursed at the officers but grabbed his bicycle and left the grassy plot.
The female officer told him to be on his way, but after walking down a sidewalk past a church, the suspect told the officers he lived there.
“You don’t live here anymore,” Hernandez said. “Bye.”
The suspect then asked what Hernandez was going to do and said he wasn’t afraid of him. Hernandez approached the man and told him to turn around.
“Ain’t nobody acting defiant,” the man said, as he continued to curse at the officer. “Ain’t nobody getting crazy but you.”
After a brief scuffle when the man initially refused to put his hands behind his back, the suspect faced a fence and appeared to comply with the order. Hernandez grabbed the man’s hands as if he was going to cuff him and then took a wild swing and punched the man in the right side of the head.
Hernandez then delivered a series of blows to the man’s head, neck and body, cursing at him the entire time.
“This is a disturbing case of the illegal use of force at the hands of a police officer,” Lacey said in a statement. “In this case, we believe the force was neither legally necessary nor reasonable.”
Hernandez has been stripped of police powers and assigned to home, the police department said.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

DON'T MISS

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

DON'T MISS

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

DON'T MISS

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

DON'T MISS

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

DON'T MISS

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

DON'T MISS

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

DON'T MISS

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

DON'T MISS

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

DON'T MISS

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

UP NEXT

What Will Happen to CNBC and MSNBC When They No Longer Have a Corporate Connection to NBC News?

UP NEXT

Major Storm Drops Record Rain, Downs Trees in Northern California After Devastation Further North

UP NEXT

Newsom Heads to Fresno, a County That Voted for Trump

UP NEXT

Conservative Professors and Students Are Beating CA Community Colleges in Court

UP NEXT

Thousands of University of California Workers Go on 2-Day Strike Over Wages, Staff Shortages

UP NEXT

Gavin Newsom Pledged to Release His Tax Returns Every Year. The Last One Was for 2020.

UP NEXT

California Governor Will Not Make Clemency Decision for Menendez Brothers Until New DA Reviews Case

UP NEXT

Fewer Kids Are Going to California Public Schools. Is There a Right Way to Close Campuses?

UP NEXT

California Voters Reject Measure That Would Have Raised Minimum Wage to Nation-High $18 Per Hour

UP NEXT

With Democracy Supposedly at Stake, California Voters Stayed Away in Droves

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

2 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

3 hours ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

3 hours ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

3 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

3 hours ago

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

4 hours ago

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

4 hours ago

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

4 hours ago

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

5 hours ago

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

5 hours ago

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

NEW YORK — Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, was chosen Thursday by Donald Trump to serve as U.S. attorney general hours after...

27 minutes ago

27 minutes ago

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

1 hour ago

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

1 hour ago

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

2 hours ago

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

President Joe Biden with Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, at the Detroit Auto Show, Sept. 14, 2022. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to erase the Biden administration’s tailpipe rules designed to get carmakers to produce electric vehicles, but most U.S. automakers want to keep them. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
3 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

3 hours ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

3 hours ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at First Horizon Coliseum, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Greensboro, NC. (AP/Alex Brandon)
3 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend