A former Palo Alto police officer, Wayne Benitez, has pleaded guilty to assaulting a handcuffed arrestee, Gustavo Alvarez, in 2018, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. Now retired, 66-year-old Benitez smashed the individual's face into a car windshield and filed a misleading police report.
In response the District Attorney Jeff Rosen remarked, "When someone with a badge breaks the law, it cracks the confidence that people have in law enforcement. That is not just unfortunate. It is unacceptable. No one is above the law." The DA's Public and Law Enforcement Integrity Team have painstakingly investigated the incident.
The assault occurred on February 17, 2018, at the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park, where Benitez and other officers detained a man suspected of driving with a suspended license. A security camera captured the officer slamming the already-handcuffed and compliant suspect's face into the windshield. When the victim cried out about bleeding, Benitez retorted, "You're going to be bleeding a whole lot more."
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After the assault, body-worn microphone recordings surfaced of Benitez boasting to colleagues about his aggressive methods. He was heard saying, "See how quickly they behave once we put our foot down? And that's what we don't do enough of." Benitez also seem to poke fun at the defendant for being gay in a discussion later that night.
In the official police report, to deceitfully conceal the use of excessive force, on Benitez claim that the only force used was to extract the victim from their trailer. He stated, "No other force was used." The convicting video and audio evidence surfaced a year after the incident.
In response to his actions, Benitez was sentenced to 750 hours of community service and is required to enroll in anger management and LGBTQ sensitivity training sessions. The arrested 42-year-old, originally charged with driving with a suspended or revoked license and resisting arrest, had all charges dismissed by the DA's Office.
