The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office has filed a single felony charge against a Los Angeles Police Department officer accused of repeatedly punching a man.
LAPD Officer Frank A. Hernandez was recorded on cellphone and body camera video repeatedly punching the 28-year-old man in an April incident.
Hernandez is accused of one count of "assault by a public officer."
Hernandez and his partner responded to a vacant lot April 27 after a report of a trespasser.
While detaining the unarmed man, Hernandez was accused of repeatedly punching him in the head, neck and body, according to a statement from the LA County District Attorney's office.
He faces a maximum possible sentence of three years in county jail if convicted as charged. He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
"This is a disturbing case of the illegal use of force at the hands of a police officer," District Attorney Lacey said. "In this case, we believe the force was neither legally necessary nor reasonable."
The man who was punched, Richard Castillo, has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, alleging he was the victim of excessive force.
The Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Police Protective League issued the following statement:
"While we have a fiduciary responsibility to provide our members with assistance through the internal affairs administrative process, what we saw on that video was unacceptable and is not what we are trained to do."
