By Karl Fischer
Contra Costa Times
MARTINEZ, Calif. — A Richmond police sergeant testified Wednesday that officer Dedrick Riley failed to immediately report hitting a handcuffed prisoner in March 2009, an allegation that resulted in felony charges against the officer.
Sgt. Mitch Peixoto told the jury in Riley’s criminal trial that he “wasn’t really happy with (Riley) at the time,” after learning an hour later that his officer booked victim Donald Stewart into City Jail, then released him with Peixoto’s permission — but never mentioned slapping the man.
Riley approached Peixoto at a different crime scene, later that evening of March 7, to tell him what happened, and to tell him that he’d already filled out the supervisor’s paperwork regarding his use of force and left it on Peixoto’s desk.
“He said something to the effect of, ‘We had to slap that guy around a little bit, get his respect,’” Peixoto said.
Prosecutors charged Riley, 42, with unlawful use of force under the color of authority and falsifying a police report over the incident, detailed earlier this week in testimony from a rookie officer that Peixoto assigned Riley to supervise that night.
Riley and Officer Anthony Diaz pulled in front of a parked car near the corner of South Third Street and Ohio Avenue and shone a searchlight into it near the beginning of their shift that night, Diaz testified Tuesday. Riley wound up knocking the driver, Donald Stewart, to the pavement when the officers say he tried to stomp on a rock of crack cocaine to destroy evidence.
Riley handcuffed him before Stewart’s swearing and taunting provoked the officer to yank him into a sitting position, slap him once, then punch him twice in the head, Diaz testified.
The defense contends that Riley used an appropriate amount of force because Stewart struggled, contrary to Diaz’s testimony.
Riley then struck a deal with Stewart to let him go, as the suspect awaited booking in the jail. Riley phoned Peixoto to say he wanted to turn Stewart into a paid police informant, so Peixoto said he could release the suspect.
Peixoto testified that things might have gone differently, had he known about Riley’s earlier actions.
“I was a little perturbed by it at the time. I thought it was unusual,” Peixoto said. “I told him to go straight to the station and write his report.”
Peixoto testified that he expects officers to call their supervisor immediately if they use force, so the supervisor can properly investigate.
The department’s internal affairs unit investigated soon thereafter, and the department ultimately fired Riley. But Riley won his job back on appeal through binding labor arbitration, as he had when fired over a similar incident in 2006.
Copyright 2012 San Jose Mercury News