(Still image above from LAPD evidence video filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, made public after a legal challenge filed by the Los Angeles Times.)
An LAPD officer recorded on video punching and kicking a man during an arrest in South L.A. was sentenced to two years probation Tuesday.
A felony charge of assault under color of authority was dropped against Richard Garcia, and a judge accepted Garcia’s plea to a misdemeanor.
That arrangement was worked out in a plea deal negotiated with the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office that was revealed last summer.
Garcia and several other officers were recorded by a business’s security camera during the arrest of a man named Clinton Alford in October, 2014.
The LAPD tried to keep the video secret but a judge made it public after a legal challenge filed by the Los Angeles Times.
Garcia was allowed to plead to the lesser charge in exchange for performing community service, donating $500 to a charity, and obeying the law over the last six months.
It appeared some of the other officers recorded on the video had lost their jobs, but the LAPD said it could not comment because of California’s police officer privacy laws that prevent disclosure of disciplinary actions.