A video showing Santa Ana police officers pulling a man to the ground and repeatedly punching him during an arrest is at the center of a use-of-force investigation.
“Hey, hey, don’t be punching him!” a witness shouted in video of the arrest. “Everything is being recorded! Why are you still punching him?”
The family member who recorded the encounter on Oct. 1 shared the video with Eyewitness News. John Kremer, an attorney representing 28-year-old Florentino Lopez, says the officers’ actions were excessive.
“The conduct engaged in by the officers was unwarranted, unjustified, and unnecessary and unreasonable,” Kremer said.
According to Kremer, Lopez and a relative were smoking marijuana on their front lawn when a police vehicle went by. The officers then stopped and motioned for Lopez to approach them in the street.
“They recognized my client. They stopped, and they motioned for him to come to them on the street, which he did. He complied,” Kremer said.
Kremer said Lopez is on felony probation and subject to search and seizure. The video shows Lopez standing against a police vehicle and exchanging words with the officers before one officer pulls him to the ground.
“Words are spoken back and forth between the two officers and my client, but there was no physical violence or any kind of resisting them. And all of a sudden, without warning, the officer, unwarranted conduct, excessive force, grabbed my client by his shirt and threw him down, much like an MMA fighter would, and then proceeded to ground and pound him while he was on the ground. And so did the second officer,” Kremer said.
After the video was shared on social media, Santa Ana Police Chief Robert Rodriguez said he reviewed it and issued a statement.
“We take every use of force seriously. Our Department is conducting a thorough review of the incident, including body-worn camera footage, reports, and the circumstances surrounding the arrest,” Rodriguez said, in part.
Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua said she would continue monitoring the investigation.
“There are officers who are professional, and we cannot judge all officers by one’s actions, but I will continue to monitor this investigation,” Amezcua said.
Lopez has been charged with felony and misdemeanor counts of resisting an officer. He also faces charges of being a pedestrian in the roadway and smoking marijuana on the grounds of a school or daycare.
Kremer said he believes all the charges should be dismissed.
“To charge him with charges that didn’t even happen, it’s ridiculous,” Kremer said.
Lopez had been in custody since Thursday, Oct. 1. In court on Monday, his bail was set at $20,000.
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