'Horrible Choices,' But No Charges For Anaheim Off-Duty Cop

SANTA ANA, CA — No criminal charges will be filed for an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer who fired his gun during a confrontation with a group of teenagers outside his Anaheim home, the Orange County District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.

Did 33-year-old Anaheim resident Kevin Ferguson have a right to detain the young teenagers crossing his lawn? and did he use unreasonable force in doing so? According to the OCDA's office, Ferguson was viewed as a private citizen and not a police officer, according to special investigators on the case.

"Our investigation treated him as a civilian, not as a police officer. He was in lawful possession of a weapon, and had the right to possess it and carry it concealed on his body," the Assistant District Attorney Ebrahi Baytieh said.
Ferguson's attorney, John Christl, praised the decision.

"Obviously, we're pleased, but we also think they made the right decision," Christl told City News Service. "We felt based on the totality of the facts, with the threat by that individual, that a number of individuals who surrounded him and that assaulted him and were reaching into their pockets that Mr. Ferguson felt his life was in danger on that day."

Christl declined to comment on District Attorney Tony Rackauckas' comments that Ferguson acted immaturely and endangered the students by firing a warning shot. Christl, however, noted that there was an uptick in gang graffiti tagging in the neighborhood at the time and a stabbing in a nearby park so neighbors were on edge at the time.

Also, Ferguson had been dealing with a consistent problem of students from the nearby school walking on his lawn, Christl said.

"All the time," he said. "They were doing it with complete disregard for the ownership of their property and on numerous times they would use foul words to the family as if it was their property."

Prosecutors said Officer Kevin Ferguson made "unwise, immature and flat-out horrible choices" during the Feb. 21, 2017, confrontation,but they would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed a crime.

The District Attorney's Office acknowledged that Ferguson used "vulgar" language and conceded that his actions "endangered the safety of a large group of juveniles," but based on a "totality of all the available evidence," they would not be able to prove to a jury that he used excessive force or wrongfully detained one of the teens.

Cellphone video (full video below) of Ferguson firing his gun into the ground sparked protests, including one that turned violent and led to nearly two dozen arrests.

Ferguson, who was off duty at the time, fired the gun once in front of a group of youths in the 1600 block of West Palais Avenue on Feb. 21 at approximately 2:30 p.m.

Ferguson had confronted the youths about walking on his lawn, which was apparently a persistent problem, then-Anaheim Police Chief Raul Quezada said in February 2017. A 13-year-old boy allegedly threatened to shoot Ferguson, which prompted him to try to detain the boy, Anaheim police Sgt. Daron Wyatt said.

The boy, however, maintained he had said he was going to "sue" Ferguson, not shoot him.

"Thinking he said 'shoot' instead of 'sue' was not unreasonable, based upon the situation," OCDA's spokesperson said. "The investigation uncovered that the way John Doe speaks leads to the conclusion that a person could (misunderstand) the words."

Some witnesses began recording portions of the conflict. One recorded account of the conflict shows one boy barreling into Ferguson, knocking him and the 13-year-old over some bushes, but Ferguson maintained his hold on the teen.

Another teen is seen stepping in to try to pull the 13-year-old away, and that teen appears to take a punch at Ferguson but missed.

As Ferguson is seen continuing to hang on to the 13-year-old and get up, others appeared to converge on the officer, who then pulled out a gun and fired a round into the ground. Ferguson held the teen until police arrived.

Police conducted more than 90 interviews with witnesses, Wyatt said. Police said the evidence also included more than 400 pages of reports and about 70 CDs and DVDs.

Whether Ferguson will receive any disciplinary action from the Los Angeles Police Department remains to be seen as of this report.

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