A 22-second video posted Tuesday on Facebook shows sheriff’s deputies in Vista manhandling two restrained suspects.
The clip, posted by a woman named Ashley Tovar, shows what appears to be the arrest of two men at an unspecified time and place. Tovar did not immediately respond to a message from The San Diego Union-Tribune.
In the opening frames, deputies hustle one suspect to his feet at the top of the screen. While the man is handcuffed, one of two deputies moving him down a path appears to shove him face-first into a wooden fence.
Moments later, another deputy who had pinned the second suspect to the ground — and apparently restrained him — repeatedly strikes him in the head with his fist.
The video was apparently shot from a second-story balcony above the common area of a Vista area condominium complex. The bird’s eye view shows what appears to be the last seconds of a longer law enforcement encounter.
The Sheriff’s Department issued a brief statement saying officials became aware of the post only a short time before being asked for an explanation or response.
Officials said they already had opened an internal review and would review reports and examine the available body-worn camera footage as part of their probe. They declined to provide many details.
“What we can say is the deputies were responding to a domestic-violence call where the suspect was wielding a weapon and holding someone against their will,” the statement said.
“During the subsequent arrest, the parties in the video fought with deputies and this is a small portion of a much larger incident. While we are not condoning or condemning the actions of anyone at this point, we are taking this matter seriously and will address any outcomes accordingly.”
Within hours of the posting, the video had been shared more than 500 times and generated scores of comments. Many of the commenters said the behavior in the video appeared unwarranted.
“Wow!!” wrote Preciosa Flores. “That slam on the fence was completely unnecessary!!”
Commenter Kimberly Carrillo said, “I grew up in Vista and this … has been going on since I can remember.”
Vista Mayor Judy Ritter issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying she had referred the video to the sheriff’s captain for review.
“I do not know what led up to this incident or what happened off camera,” the statement said. “It would be inappropriate to comment on a law enforcement matter without all of the facts. The Sheriff’s Department will be investigating the matter internally.”
The video post comes at a difficult time for Sheriff Bill Gore and the department he has run since 2009.
Gore is facing re-election next month. At the same time, the department has been the subject of several unwelcome events in recent months, including the arrest of a deputy on multiple felony sexual misconduct charges.
The department also recently disciplined a sheriff’s captain who was selling firearms without a license and allowed an assistant sheriff to retire early after being accused of “inappropriate conduct.”
Last month, Gore pledged to review the finding that a Coronado woman had killed herself in 2011 after the jury in a civil case determined that the victim’s boyfriend’s brother was responsible for the death.
Source: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/sd-me-vista-sheriff-20180508-story.html