Former California officers charged with allegedly beating black teenager

Two former officers from Stockton, Calif., Have been indicted by a grand jury for their alleged beating of a black teenager at the end of a car chase in 2020.

The September 1 grand jury indictment against Michael Stiles and Omar Villapudua alleges criminal assault by a public officer, assault with force likely to cause serious bodily harm and great improvements in bodily harm for both. It was unsealed on Friday.

“This indictment reminds us all that when the police use illegal force, it undermines the confidence of the community,” San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar said at a press conference.

She said two other officers who were investigated by her office for their role in the encounter were not the subject of any allegations, but she could not say why because the grand jury transcripts were still sealed. Stiles and Villapudua were fired by the city in the spring for acting outside the politics and training of the department, Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones said at the time.

Lawyers for the two officers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Stockton Police Officers Association said in a statement Friday that it “strongly disagreed” with the indictment, alleging that 17-year-old Devon Carter was a life-threatening driver and that he had put his hand on his belt as the police attempted to arrest him after the chase.

He “chose deliberately and maliciously to lead officers in a dangerous and violent pursuit,” said the union representing the rank and file officers.

Carter’s family are in the midst of a federal lawsuit against the city and the officers who detained the boy following the December 30 lawsuit. Their lawyer, John Burris, posted photos of Carter’s bruised and swollen face and compared the violence against him to that used by Los Angeles Police Department officers against Rodney King in 1991.

The body camera video and audio released by the lawyer shows the teenager, “I can’t resist” and “OK, OK, OK. I’m down” as he takes a beating in what Carter described it as the fetal position.

“Devin was afraid the police would beat him to death,” Burris said in a statement in April.

The boy’s father, George Carter, told a press conference on Friday that he believed he would suffer from “lifelong trauma”.

Prosecutors, he said, have “taken a step to straighten things out.”

The teenager was wanted for suspected reckless driving and led officers in pursuit for a few minutes until his vehicle skidded in what law enforcement describes as the pursuit intervention technique, or maneuver. PIT, according to police and court documents.

The police union alleged that Carter caused an accident between a law enforcement vehicle and a civilian’s car during the chase.

Carter was temporarily held in a juvenile detention center on charges of escape and resisting arrest.

The next court hearing in the indictment was scheduled for November 11. It’s unclear exactly what sentence the District Attorney would ask for for Stiles and Villapudua if they are successfully convicted.

“We’re not even close to having this conversation,” Salazar said.