News
Criminal
Feb. 21, 2002
Ex-LAPD Officer Must Stand Trial
LOS ANGELES - A former officer in the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart anti-gang unit was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on charges that he beat a suspect with a flashlight and lied on a police report to cover it up.
LOS ANGELES - A former officer in the Los Angeles Police Department's Rampart anti-gang unit was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on charges that he beat a suspect with a flashlight and lied on a police report to cover it up.
Also Wednesday, a Superior Court judge refused to reduce the five-year prison sentence imposed on another Los Angeles police officer, convicted of shooting in the back an unarmed motorist during a traffic stop.
In the first case, former anti-gang Officer Ethan John Cohan, now a law student in New York, is accused of beating a 25-year-old alleged gang member, then claiming the suspect fled police and resisted arrested. Disgraced Officer Rafael Perez, who sparked a scandal when he divulged widespread corruption within the Rampart anti-gang unit, participated in the arrest.
During a nearly three-day preliminary hearing, two other former LAPD officers, Manuel Chavez and Shawn Gomez, testified against Cohan. Chavez and Gomez are among six Rampart officers to be convicted since Perez began cooperating with investigators. Three of those officers had their convictions overturned, and the district attorney's office is appealing.
In the second case, Officer Ronald J. Orosco pleaded no contest last fall to charges that he shot 66-year-old Charles Beatty after giving him a traffic citation.
Also Wednesday, a Superior Court judge refused to reduce the five-year prison sentence imposed on another Los Angeles police officer, convicted of shooting in the back an unarmed motorist during a traffic stop.
In the first case, former anti-gang Officer Ethan John Cohan, now a law student in New York, is accused of beating a 25-year-old alleged gang member, then claiming the suspect fled police and resisted arrested. Disgraced Officer Rafael Perez, who sparked a scandal when he divulged widespread corruption within the Rampart anti-gang unit, participated in the arrest.
During a nearly three-day preliminary hearing, two other former LAPD officers, Manuel Chavez and Shawn Gomez, testified against Cohan. Chavez and Gomez are among six Rampart officers to be convicted since Perez began cooperating with investigators. Three of those officers had their convictions overturned, and the district attorney's office is appealing.
In the second case, Officer Ronald J. Orosco pleaded no contest last fall to charges that he shot 66-year-old Charles Beatty after giving him a traffic citation.
- David Houston
#337668
David Houston
Daily Journal Staff Writer
davidhouston@runbox.com
davidhouston@runbox.com
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