{"id":488756,"date":"2026-10-08T03:26:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T03:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/488756\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T03:26:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T03:26:37","slug":"santa-ana-police-say-use-of-force-incident-being-reviewed-after-video-shows-officers-punching-detained-man-redlands-daily-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/488756\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa Ana police say use-of-force incident being reviewed after video shows officers punching detained man \u2013 Redlands Daily Facts"},"content":{"rendered":"

A video taken by a bystander shows two Santa Ana police officers restraining a man against a patrol car before he is flung to the ground and punched multiple times by at least one officer.<\/p>\n

The video went viral over the weekend<\/a>, prompting public outcry over excessive use of force by police and a response from city officials, including the mayor and chief of police.<\/p>\n

The video was taken Thursday evening, Oct. 1, in a neighborhood near Jackson and 5th streets in Santa Ana.<\/p>\n

Several versions of the video shared online show two SAPD officers holding a man bent forward against the front corner of a patrol vehicle before one officer twists him and pushes him to the pavement, where they continue restraining his upper body and arms. Another officer also lifts and bends his lower legs.<\/p>\n

One officer can be seen punching the man on at least three occasions, with the bystander recording the video heard yelling, \u201cDon\u2019t be (expletive) punching him! Why are you still punching him?\u201d After the third strike, the bystander continues, \u201cYou\u2019re punching him for what?\u201d He also said, \u201cAll he was doing was talking (expletive).\u201d<\/p>\n

After a little more than a minute, the video shows two additional SAPD officers arriving. At this point, several individuals can be heard asking the officers to stop. The arriving officers approach the growing crowd and ask them to back away from the scene.<\/p>\n

In a social media post,<\/a> Mayor Valerie Amezcua shared a screenshot of the video and said she \u201cimmediately contacted\u201d Santa Ana\u2019s city manager and chief of police once she learned of the incident, adding that \u201cthe matter is under investigation and details cannot be shared that could compromise the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amezcua said she supports transparency and a \u201cthorough investigation into this matter.\u201d She added, \u201cRemember there are officers who are professional and we cannot judge all officers by one\u2019s actions, but I will continue to monitor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santa Ana Police Chief Robert Rodriguez said in a social media post<\/a> that he is aware of the video of the arrest circulating and has personally reviewed the footage. He said he wants to assure the community that \u201cwe take every use of force seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur department is conducting a thorough review of the incident, including body-worn camera footage, reports, and the circumstances surrounding the arrest. It is important that we allow that process to take place and let the facts guide our conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cAs chief, maintaining the trust of our community remains a responsibility I take seriously, and we will continue to approach this matter with fairness, transparency, and respect for the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The mother of Florentino Lopez Jr., 28, of Santa Ana, holds a photo of her son on her phone on Monday, October 5, 2026. Lopez was allegedly assaulted by Santa Ana police officers.
\n(Photo by Karen Tapia, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"City<\/p>\n

City Councilmember Johnathan Hernandez meets with family members of Florentino Lopez Jr, 28, of Santa Ana on Monday, October 5, 2026. He went to discuss the video tape of the alleged assault by Santa Ana police officers.
\n(Photo by Karen Tapia, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"City<\/p>\n

City Councilmember Johnathan Hernandez meets with family members of Florentino Lopez Jr, 28, of Santa Ana on Monday, October 5, 2026. He went to discuss the video tape of the alleged assault by Santa Ana police officers.
\n(Photo by Karen Tapia, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 3<\/p>\n

The mother of Florentino Lopez Jr., 28, of Santa Ana, holds a photo of her son on her phone on Monday, October 5, 2026. Lopez was allegedly assaulted by Santa Ana police officers.
\n(Photo by Karen Tapia, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Family members identified the man as Florentino Lopez Jr., a 28-year-old Santa Ana resident. They said Monday afternoon they still didn\u2019t know what charges he was being held for and it had been two days before they could find out where he was. They said he was in the process of being released on bail Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kept saying, \u2018Stop, please stop,\u2019\u201d said the woman who identified herself as Lopez\u2019s mother as she recalled the incident. She appeared on the verge of tears as she described the scene, asking, \u201cWho would want to see their family being beat like this?\u201d<\/p>\n

Family members said they saw the officers strike Lopez with a knee to the face, press a knee on his neck, elbow him, and place a spit mask over his bleeding face even though he wasn\u2019t spitting.<\/p>\n

The interaction was witnessed by multiple people, including Lopez\u2019s grandparents.<\/p>\n

When asked whether the involved officers were placed on administrative leave, Officer Natalie Garcia, spokesperson for the department, said, \u201cOur department is reviewing all the available information, including body-worn camera footage, police reports, and the circumstances leading up to Mr. Lopez\u2019s arrest on Oct. 1.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs with all use-of-force incidents,\u201d she said, \u201cwe take these matters seriously and will let the facts guide our review and conclusions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A video taken by a bystander shows two Santa Ana police officers restraining a man against a patrol…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,7,179,723,734,100,611,338],"class_list":["post-488756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-california","tag-community","tag-crime","tag-law-enforcement","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-santa-ana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}