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SAN FERNANDO (CNS) - A San Fernando police officer pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor count of assault under the color of authority involving a man at a gas station last June.
Saul Garibay, 53, responded last June 15 to a disturbance call at a gas station in the 1700 block of Truman Street in San Fernando and allegedly asked a man to leave the property, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Garibay allegedly knocked a cellphone out of the man's hand and pushed him away after the man began recording him with the phone, according to the District Attorney's Office.
San Fernando Police Chief Fabian Valdez said in a statement released to the Los Angeles Times that his department referred information last year about the incident to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which did an independent investigation and referred its findings to the District Attorney's Office.
Garibay's current status with the San Fernando Police Department was not immediately available.
In a May 17 statement announcing the filing, District Attorney George Gascón said, "We must hold accountable police officers and protect members of the public from unjustified and excessive force by the people we entrust to protect us."