Watsonville Cop Out After Pummeling Casino Worker, Deputies Say

WATSONVILLE, CA — A Watsonville police officer no longer worked for the department as of Friday after he punched and kicked a Nevada casino employee, and attacked him with a bar stool while apparently intoxicated on alcohol and possibly drugs, according to Watsonville police and an arrest report.

Tyler Stephens, 24, was hired by the Watsonville Police Department in April and arrested in South Tahoe, Nevada last Thursday, according to the department and South Tahoe Now. He faces a misdemeanor battery charge and felony vandalism charge after casino staff said he attacked a slot department staff member and caused $30,000 of damage after apparently knocking over two slot machines, according to a deputy's report.

Stephens could not be reached for comment at a phone number associated with his name.

"The allegations against Stephens are deeply unsettling for our department, our entire law enforcement community and the community of Watsonville," police said in a statement last week.

Deputies headed to look for Stephens in the early hours of last Thursday after Stephens told a dispatcher he wanted to speak with his sergeant and needed to turn himself in after an officer-involved shooting in Santa Cruz, according to a Douglas County Sheriff's Office report about the incident. He said he was being framed and investigated by the 187 — police slang for murder — unit, according to the report.

Stephens was not under investigation for any officer-involved shootings during his tenure with Watsonville police, said Watsonville police spokesperson Michelle Pulido.

Deputies headed to a casino in search of Stephens, where a security supervisor told them about the attack and vandalism, according to the report.

The employee later told deputies Stephens confronted him while he repaired locks, then flipped over his tool cart and began punching him in his face and eye, according to the report. Stephens followed him as he walked away, continuing to strike the worker despite his attempts to restrain Stephens, and continued to try to assault him until the worker ran away, out of sight, according to the report. Video footage shows Stephens hitting the employee with a bar stool, according to the report.

The worker was injured, with red marks and cuts on his face.

While the deputy was at the casino, he was advised that South Lake Tahoe police were speaking with Stephens in their city after receiving a similar 911 call and tracking his cell phone location.

The deputy headed to a South Lake Tahoe resort and spoke with Stephens, who smelled of alcohol and said he was visiting his girlfriend during a bachelorette party, according to the report. He denied using drugs but was sweating, jerking and appeared restless — signs of drug use, according to the report.

He said he could not recall any altercations at the casino.

Stephens was also seen on security camera footage jogging from another casino, where windows of three cars were bashed in — including a car where a person was sleeping inside, South Tahoe Now reported. Stephens' wallet was found next to a car, according to the report.

Watsonville's human resources department said it could not comment on the circumstances that led to Stephens' dismissal because it was a personnel matter, but said it does not usually issue severance pay to employees.