August 22, 2016
New video shows the shocking moment a Los Angeles police officer delivers a powerful kick near the head of a black man who is lying facedown in the middle of a street, attempting to surrender.
The Los Angeles Times obtained footage of the October 2014 encounter through a court order after the LAPD said the video was an investigative record exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act.
The officer who delivered the kick was Richard Garcia. Over the next 10 seconds of video, the 35-year-old officer with about a decade experience on the force also knees the man in the back, elbows him and punches him in the head, The Times video reveals.
Other officers involved in the arrest of Clinton Alford Jr., stand up and move away as Garcia appears to take charge.
At one point another officer returns and kicks Alford’s legs to push them apart before appearing to stand on his ankles.
Garcia presses his knee into Alford’s back for more than two minutes, relenting only when other officers help pick up the handcuffed man and drag him away.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck publicly condemned the use of force but tried to keep the video under wraps citing disciplinary actions against Garcia.
Garcia was charged with felony assault and struck a controversial plea deal in May.
Under the deal, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault and was spared jail time. He was facing up to three years in prison if convicted of felony assault at trial.
He was given probation, community service and told to stay away from Alford and donate $500 to charity.
Garcia, 35, defended his actions claiming he kicked Alford in the shoulder and used further force to help control a suspect who appeared to be resisting police, the Times reported.
At a preliminary hearing last year, one of Garcia’s lawyers argued that Alford had a hand under his body when Garcia approached him and still posed a threat.
But the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office disagreed.
“From the get-go, Mr. Alford — you can see in the video — does not threaten the officers in any way, shape or form,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Oscar Plascencia told the judge, according to The Times.
The video was recovered from a surveillance system at a nearby factory.
A woman who watched the incident unfold on a monitor inside the factory that day previously testified that she was disturbed by the encounter, according to The Times.
“I didn’t think it was a proper action,” Citlali Alvarado said. “The victim was already held down.”
She said officers who visited the factory after the incident “laughed” as they reviewed the footage in her presence.
She said yet another officer visited at a later time, asked to see the footage and recorded the playback on his cellphone.
That officer was Garcia, she testified.
Under fire for striking a deal that many considered too lenient, District Attorney Jackie Lacey told The Times that video “doesn’t tell the whole story sometimes.”
She declined to say whether criminal charges pending against Alford played a role in her decision to avoid trial.
According to The Times, Alford faces charges including pimping, rape and assault with a deadly weapon.
The 24-year-old has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody.
Alford previously told The Times he was riding his bicycle the day of Garcia’s assault when a man pulled up in a vehicle and ordered him to stop.
Someone grabbed the back of his bicycle, he said, so he jumped off and ran.
Beck has said his officers pursued Alford at the request of a detective who was looking for robbery suspects in the area, The Times reported.
Garcia, meanwhile, is awaiting a Board of Rights hearing within the department to determine his professional fate.