On Thursday, federal prosecutors indicted three members of the Pomona Police Department (PPD) in a case involving the alleged beating a 16-year-old at the Los Angeles County Fair, and an attempted cover-up of the assault. The case is being investigated by the FBI.
PPD Corporal Chad Kenneth Jensen, 50, the officer who allegedly beat the teen on September 16, 2015, at the LA County Fair, is charged with violating the boy’s rights under color of law. Officer Prince Taylor Hutchinson, 31, and Sergeant Michael Timothy Neaderbaomer, 49, are the other two PPD members named in the case.
A separate civil lawsuit filed on October 17, 2016, identifies the alleged victim as Christian Aguilar. Christian was 16 at the time of the beating.
Christian was punched in the throat multiple times, hit with a baton, and threatened with a taser, according to the complaint filed by the Los Angeles law firm Geragos & Geragos.
Officers reportedly arrested the teen’s father, Ignacio Aguilar, and his adult cousin, Gabriel Aguilar. The complaint stated that the two officers, Austin Dossey and Tim Dorn, engaged with Gabriel as he walked away from a beer vendor. Officers allegedly arrested Gabriel for not showing enough respect, and then falsely accused him of being “so intoxicated that he was a danger to himself and others,” the complaint said. The police allegedly accused Ignacio of the same, and cuffed and escorted the two men out of the fair.
Christian started filming the officers escorting his father from approximately 30 feet away, according to the complaint. “For no discernable reason,” Jensen allegedly grabbed Christian by the arm and moved him toward a fence, forcing the teen face-first into the fence. Then, Jensen allegedly spun Christian around and punched him “with two unprovoked forearm strikes,” despite the fact that Christians hands were down at his sides, the complaint stated. At this point Jensen’s partner, Officer Prince Taylor Hutchinson, 31, joined in, placing the teen “in a full nelson hold,” according to the complaint.
While Hutchinson held Christian, another officer, Ralph Correa, allegedly hit the boy with a baton. They forced Christian to the ground. Then, according to the complaint, and yet another officer, Todd Samuels, threatened the teen with a taser as they rolled him over to handcuff him. The police officers arrested Christian for allegedly resisting arrest.
“Christian was unlawfully held in custody with adults despite telling officers multiple times that he was a minor,” the complaint alleges.
When Christian’s brother, Ignacio Aguilar IV, yelled at the police to stop beating his brother, officers reportedly took him to the ground and detained him. The complaint does not identify the officers who arrested Christian’s brother.
Police reportedly arrested a man, Robert Hansen, who used his cell phone to film officers beating Christian. The video (below) shows the incident from the time that Officer Jensen allegedly spun Christian around and began punching him.
The police took custody of Hansen’s phone, according to the complaint. Then, officers reportedly gave a doctored version of Hansen’s video to the District
Attorney’s Office that aligned with their alleged false reports.
The accused, Jensen, Hutchinson, and PPD Sergeant Michael Timothy Neaderbaomer, 49, surrendered Thursday to face the federal charges.
According to the indictment, the beating resulted in bodily injury, and Jensen violated the teen’s constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force.
Jensen and Hutchinson are accused of writing false reports in an effort to justify the force Jensen allegedly used against Christian.
In the incident report, Jensen reportedly falsely stated that Christian attempted to punch him in the face, and that the minor came within arm’s reach of another officer who was in the middle of arresting someone.
The indictment says that Hutchinson also wrote a false report indicating that the teen came within a couple of feet of the officer escorting the arrestee. Hutchinson also allegedly reported false information that Christian had tried to stir up unrest among those in the crowd while Hutchinson was escorting him to a holding facility at the fairgrounds.
In addition, during court proceedings regarding (false) charges against the victim, the two officers allegedly obstructed justice by lying about the incident, as they had in their reports. Jensen and Hutchinson reportedly gave the impression that the youth posed a threat to other cops before Jenson beat him. (Officers Jensen, Samuels, Hutchinson, and Correa all testified under oath that Christian swung at Jensen, according to the 2016 civil complaint.)
The third PPD member charged in the federal case is PPD Sergeant Michael Timothy Neaderbaomer, 49, a member of the department’s Internal Affairs Unit. The sergeant is charged with obstructing justice for allegedly lying to Christian’s family in order to convince them not to report the beating to law enforcement.
Neaderbaomer “attempted to intimidate and corruptly persuade” the boy and his family, telling them that there was video footage showing Christian punching Jenson, according to the indictment. The sergeant also allegedly violated department policy by telling the teen’s mother that she would not be allowed to accompany her son to an interview with the PPD regarding a citizen’s complaint against him.
Neaderbaomer has also been charged with lying to FBI agents during their investigation of Jensen’s alleged violation of Christian’s civil rights.
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office charged Christian with two counts of resisting arrest, and the teen’s father was charged with public intoxication. All charges were dismissed.
The three officers were arraigned Thursday in federal court. Each of the defendants pleaded not guilty. They were released on $50,000 bonds.
A trial is scheduled to begin on December 19.
Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Stout of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section and Justice Department Trial Attorney Donald Tunnage of the Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.
The excessive force charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years behind bars, witness tampering and falsifying reports carry maximum penalties of 20 years, and lying to the feds means a max of five years. If charged on all counts, Jenson would face up to 50 years, Hutchinson would face a maximum of 40 years, and Neaderbaomer could get up to 30 years.
Hutchinson, along with Dossey and Dorn, are named as defendants in another federal lawsuit that was filed on October 4, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin’s Joe Nelson reports. The suit alleges that the officers assaulted three brothers, wrongfully arrested them, and falsified reports that got the brothers charged with felonies. The charges against the brothers were dismissed after two years. This second incident happened less than one month after the Aguilar beating.
The “Cover up” which includes the lies and false report writing is always worse than the crime. They deserve whatever prison time that they receive. Thankfully the father of the victim respects law enforcement in general, knowing that those cops named, doesn’t represent the majority of cops who help more than they harm.
Man, these are some fine officers. I’m sure they are the exception, as this does not happen that often. Who has ever heard of a police officer using excessive force or lying on a report or at court, or trying to persuade a victim not to file a report. Thank god for smart phones so that we can catch dumb cops. Maybe a fine Sheriff deputy, like Noel Womack, will beat the crap out of them like they did to Gabriel Carrillo.
FYI “that the Christian” was said 3 times like the young man is an object. Please fix the typos.
Oh WOW! CF, the “Greatest Cop Hater” that ever put typed text to screen does still exist.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Dear “Guy,”
Thanks for the heads up on the admittedly odd series of three typos. The perils of late night proofreading. They’re fixed now.
C.
Totally embarrassing for law enforcement. A real tough cop to forearm a 16 yr old who was NOT resisting in the least bit. When I see actions like that from any police offIcer in similar situations I’m reminded of a true bully/cowardice complex. Karma is bringing in more for protective custody.
The FBI and their biggest cheerleader, Witness la ,are working tirelessly to keep rude, loud ,drunken , combative , a-holes safe from police intervention. Witness la said nothing about the obvious combative, uncooperative behavior of the “teen”. I hope the cops walk, B.S. case.
Maj. Kong, the “obvious” combative, uncooperative behavior? You see what you want to see. Out of curiosity, have ever heard of, or seen, a cop that did anything wrong? It sounds as if the fine men in uniform, like yourself, can never do anything wrong. And, when they do, you have more excuses than a hillbilly that just got caught with his pants down in the woodshed with his sister. But, alas, times they are changing. The days when you can pretend to be one of the Adam-12 characters are over, and you long for them. You are no longer seen as Officer Pete Malloy, but more like Chief Clarence Wiggum.
CF is right. It is obvious that the cops just picked this innocent youngster out of the crowd for their nightly beating. He just happened to have his loving family there because it was their grandma’s 70th birthday and they were in the middle of singing happy birthday to her when the cops decided to have a little fun by barging in with nightsticks swinging. Luckily, the cell phone videos were rolling to see grandma blow out the candles when the cops did their dastardly deed. Kong, you should be ashamed of yourself for jumping to conclusions.
Cf buried in your usual string of insults and strange sexual fixations (projecting much?) is actually a fair point. This kind of case is entirely based on perceptions. What did the officer see, or think he saw during the few seconds in question? Human perception is very subjective. Holding someone to their memory during a physical confrontation is a tricky busininess.
The full video, not the redacted one by P.P.D., along with the facts speak for themselves. The FBI has the handle, so it’s no use trying to champion the cause of the police officers. My advice to them is to get their affairs in order prior to their prison dates. Without the film footage, nothing would have mattered.
Truly noteworthy is that Trump has been president for a year now, and this Federal prosecution is occurring under a Trump prosecution team.
Who woulda thunk?
CF made a comment…”have ever heard of, or seen, a cop do anything bad?” I gather from his perspective…..”have you ever heard of, or seen, a cop do anything good.”
As the officer goes through the legal ringer, lets hope with a President Trump appointed FBI Director and Attorney General, they review the facts of the case in their totality, avoid political grandstanding, ignore the court of public opinion, and apply reasonable standards.
Don’t hold your breath and don’t forget to add the two NYPD coppers charged with rape. You make trump look like a savior for cops doing stupid things. I’m sure Tanaka was your boy also. If you put your money where your loyalty is, you’ll be homeless real soon. LOL!
No…no not a savior but definitely an administration that is more “fair and balanced” than the previous. Where you asleep when the last administration basically went on a character assassination of all local law enforcement while the DOJ ran amock? We now know the entire Ferguson, MO incident though sensationalized by the media and politicians alike did not happen the way it was presented to the public, the FBI report supports that.
Parts of the country exploded and lives were ruined all because of an irresponsible President and media that fueled a dangerous ant-law enforcement sentiment. President Trump may be distatestful to some but is there is a reason people voted for a non-establishment “polished” career politician.
Well said Conspiracy…
C: you are writing a book?
You know what not one of you cop haters could do? Make a statistical case for brutality being a problem in this country, not even against P.O.C.’s., not one of you. Not Celeste or any of her cop hater pals and please, if you can, put the numbers and facts up and I’ll destroy them. When stuff like this happens it needs to be dealt with as the law says it should, period. From my own perspective looks like there was no reason for the force used. If the kid did something prior to the video rolling a simple control hold and cuffing was all that was needed.