Seven months after he was caught on digicam throwing a Black lady to the bottom throughout a controversial use-of-force incident in a WinCo parkinfg lot, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Trevor Kirk was arrested final week for alleged home battery.
Jail information present the 30-year-old Lancaster deputy was picked up by deputies from the Santa Clarita sheriff’s station Thursday night and rapidly launched on $20,000 bond. His legal professional, Tom Yu, stated Monday that Kirk had not but been formally charged.
“I’m fairly assured this arrest doesn’t warrant a felony submitting in opposition to my shopper,” Yu instructed The Occasions, including that the incident allegedly involving Kirk’s spouse was reported by a 3rd celebration who didn’t witness it. “My understanding is that the spouse was not desirous of prosecution and that she denied all of the allegations made in opposition to Trevor.”
Kirk’s spouse didn’t reply to requests for remark.
In an announcement Monday, the Sheriff’s Division confirmed the misdemeanor arrest, which officers stated is at present below investigation.
“The Division takes allegations of home abuse significantly and doesn’t tolerate felony conduct from our personnel,” the assertion stated. “We anticipate our staff to uphold the very best authorized and moral requirements which can be required to serve our communities, each on and off responsibility.
On the time of his arrest, the division stated, Kirk had already been relieved of responsibility in reference to the WinCo incident.
Caree Harper, an legal professional representing the lady Kirk threw to the bottom outdoors the WinCo, stated Monday that she was additionally investigating final week’s arrest and that she considered it as a part of a sample.
“He’s a lady beater, and he ought to be taken off the streets and fired instantly,” she instructed The Occasions. “We now have credible sources saying he has a sample of violence.”
It’s not clear precisely when the alleged abuse occurred, although Yu stated it might have been “weeks or months” earlier. He additionally stated he didn’t know the specifics of the allegation in opposition to his shopper, which he maintained solely resulted in an arrest as a result of peace officers have “no selection” however to behave following any accusation of home violence.
“This arrest has nothing to do with the WinCo incident,” he added. “They’re very completely different.”
In June, deputies responded to 911 calls a few theft in progress on the WinCo grocery retailer on Avenue Okay in Lancaster. After arriving, they encountered a person and a lady — later recognized in court docket filings as Jacy Houseton and Damon Barnes — who allegedly matched the descriptions of the suspects given to 911.
Because the deputies handcuffed Barnes within the parking zone, Houseton started recording together with her telephone. Inside seconds, one of many deputies rushed towards her and reached for her arm, seemingly in an try and take the telephone.
“You’ll be able to’t contact me,” she screamed. The deputy threw her on the bottom, and video confirmed him arguing together with her, pepper-spraying her within the face and placing her in handcuffs..
Barnes was cited on suspicion of resisting an officer, tried petty theft and interfering with a enterprise. Houseton was hospitalized for the results of the pepper spray and for abrasions to her arm. She was launched however cited for allegedly assaulting an officer and retailer loss prevention personnel.
At a July 6 information convention, Luna known as the incident “disturbing” and stated that each of the deputies concerned had been faraway from subject responsibility pending an inner investigation, which officers say remains to be ongoing.
That very same month, The Occasions revealed that the FBI had opened a felony investigation into the incident in addition to into one in Palmdale, the place a deputy was caught on digicam punching a younger mom within the face as she clung to her child. The Sheriff’s Division confirmed Monday that federal authorities are nonetheless reviewing the case.
In August, Houseton and Barnes filed a lawsuit in opposition to the Sheriff’s Division and WinCo alleging battery, negligence and civil rights violations. They stated they by no means stole something from the WinCo and that they’d been unfairly harassed by safety, despite the fact that surveillance footage confirmed them paying for his or her purchases.
In court docket filings, Kirk denied a number of of the allegations outright, and stated others have been too broad. The case remains to be pending in federal court docket.