Former Palo Alto Police Sgt. Charged With Assault

PALO ALTO, CA — A former Palo Alto police sergeant was charged Tuesday with the assault of a man during a 2018 arrest, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Wayne Benitez, 62, slammed the face of a handcuffed arrestee against the windshield of the his car, prosecutors said. The officer is also accused of filing a false police report.

A video of the incident captured by a residential home security camera was obtained by NBC News.

If convicted on charges of assault under the color of authority and lying on a police report, Benitez could face up to two years in jail, prosecutors said.

“Peace officers who use more force than necessary hurt more than the person they are trying to arrest,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement.

“They damage the deservedly excellent reputations of the vast majority of officers who work every shift to help people. And they strain the bonds with their communities who expect and deserve that police officers will protect and serve them fairly and professionally.”

The prosecution is based on a review of the Feb. 17, 2018 incident by the DA’s newly formed Public and Law Enforcement Integrity Team.

Benitez was among a group of officers arresting a man on suspicion of driving with a suspended license that night at the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park, prosecutors said.

A security camera captured video footage of the police sergeant striking the man twice as he was being handcuffed and then slamming his face into a car windshield.

After the arrest, Benitez’s body-worn microphone captured him saying: “See how quickly they behave once we put our foot down?” Benitez can be heard saying to another officer, “And that’s what we don’t do enough of.”

There was no mention of that force in Benitez’s report about the incident, prosecutors said.

“In fact, he wrote that the only force that was used was to pull the victim from the trailer,” the DA’s statement said, noting that Benitez wrote in the report that “No other force was used.”

The video and audio did not come to light until the following year.

The victim, 39, was charged on suspicion of driving under the influence, driving with a suspended or revoked license, and resisting arrest. The charges were later dismissed by the DA’s Office.