BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A former Palo Alto police officer who slammed a handcuffed man into a car windshield and then lied about it on his police report was sentenced yesterday to community service, District Attorney Jeff Rosen announced.
Sgt. Wayne Benitez — nicknamed “The Fuse” by his fellow officers — pleaded guilty as charged yesterday to misdemeanor assault and lying on a police report.
Palo Alto Judge Brian Buckelew sentenced Benitez to 750 hours of community service.
Buckelew and Benitez reached a deal yesterday afternoon before a trial was scheduled to begin on Monday in San Jose.
The incident happened at the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park on Feb. 17, 2018, when officers were arresting resident Gustavo Alvarez for driving with a suspended license.
Benitez kicked down Alvarez’s door, pulled him outside and pinned him to a car.
Three officers wrestled with Alvarez’s arms to put handcuffs on, and Benitez hit Alvarez in the head and told him to shut up, video shows.
After Alvarez was handcuffed, Benitez lifted him up by his sweatshirt and slammed him back down into the car.
“You think you’re a tough guy, huh?” Benitez said before walking Alvarez to a police car.
Alvarez complained he was bleeding, and Benitez responded, “You’re going to be bleeding a whole lot more.”
Benitez also mocked Alvarez for being gay when describing the incident later that evening.
On his police report, Benitez said no other force was used besides pulling Alvarez from his mobile home.
The video didn’t come to light until the next year, when Alvarez’s attorney released the footage as part of a lawsuit against the city of Palo Alto, which ended in a $572,000 settlement to Alvarez.
Other officers nicknamed Benitez “The Fuse,” because he had a temper and a reputation for blowing up, according to a motion filed by Deputy District Attorney Jeff Malinsky.
Rosen originally declined to charge Benitez because he said the statute of limitations had passed. But he reversed his decision after taking a second look at the law.
Rosen’s office offered Benitez 1,000 hours of community service. but Benitez didn’t accept the deal, Malinksy said.
Another Newsom appointee! Go woke, go broke.
That makes no sense, even from an ignorant MAGA perspective.
Community service for that level of violence. What a joke. No wonder people hate cops. This guy is dangerous and needs to spend some time in the Pelican Bay general population. And what about the 3 other cops who watched it all? I’m sure they’re still getting paid to “protect and serve” us.
Those three other cops learned a lesson — when their superior breaks the law in such an obvious and flagrant way, they are to shut up and pretend they saw nothing.
This man did nothing wrong other than say some stupid comments in the heat of the moment. The suspect never hit the windshield and was never injured. He was never bloodied and was booked into jail without any issues.
Sgt. Benitez was 60 years old at the time and had served the City with distinction. What should worry Palo Alto residents is how the Palo Alto Police Department handled the situation. The PAPD amdin knew about Sgt. Benitez’s behavior and allowed it to continue. They allowed Sgt. Benitez to retire. They fired all three officers next to Benitez. One of the officers was on disability with a severe back injury which occurred from him stopping a downtown robbery suspect.
You haven’t seen the videotape of Benitez repeatedly slamming Alvarez’s head on the windshield, over and over a gain. And the photos the police took of Alvarez show the extent of the beating he received. Yeah, Benitez served the city with distinction — the distinction of being a brutal thug.
And Palo Alto officials repeatedly stonewalled on whether he was entitled to his full pension! How these actions could be classified as misdemeanors is absurd.
The state law on cops losing their pensions for crimes is straightforward, and I don’t think the city has much to say about it.
The law says: “Any current or future public official or employee convicted of a felony while carrying out his or her official duties, in seeking an elected office or appointment, and/or in connection with obtaining salary or pension benefits, will be required to forfeit any pension or related benefit earned from the date of the commission of the felony.”
So first Benitez needed to be charged with a felony. DA Jeff Rosen refused to charge him with a felony. Instead Rosen felt this was only a misdemeanor. So Benitez can’t lose his pension for this. The city doesn’t have anything to do with it. It’s a state law (The California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act (PEPRA)), which took effect in January 2013.
If you want to cancel the pensions of police convicted of misdemeanors, talk to your state Legislators about changing the law.
It’s amazing that a police officer can get away with a brutal assault like this and only get community service. Somebody ought to open an investigation into how Rosen handled this case. At the very least, people should be asking Rosen’s right-hand-man, Jay Boyarsky, about this case now that Boyarsky is running for judge.
Another good reason to have a civilian oversight board and inspector general’s office…..police can police themselves!
Correction…Police cannot police themselves!