An officer with the Veterans Affairs Police Department has been indicted on civil rights and assault charges that allege he used a department-issued baton to illegally strike a man about 45 times in 41 seconds at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, officials announced Friday.
Juan Anthony Carrillo, 45, was named in a two-count indictment returned Thursday by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. Carrillo will receive a summons directing him to appear in the coming weeks for an arraignment in federal court in downtown Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
At about 4 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2022, the 34-year-old victim identified in the indictment as R.V. was detained by another VAPD officer on the grounds of the Medical Center, prosecutors allege.
Carrillo arrived to assist the other officer and proceeded to strike R.V. with a VAPD-issued baton up to 45 times in roughly 41 seconds, according to the indictment that notes most, if not all, of the baton strikes were delivered while the other officer was on top of the victim.
The indictment notes that Carrillo was about 60 pounds heavier than R.V., and the second officer was about 8 inches taller and about 85 pounds heavier than the victim. As a result of the alleged beating, the victim sustained injuries that included bleeding and lacerations on both legs, the indictment states.
“The VA Office of Inspector General is committed to ensuring that all VA law enforcement officials discharge their police powers appropriately,” Special Agent in Charge Rebeccalynn Staples of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Western Field Office, said in a statement.
“We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable any VA police officers who violate the constitutional rights of another through excessive force.”
In addition to the use of excessive force, the indictment alleges that Carrillo, on the day after the incident, prepared a misleading VAPD incident report to justify his use of force.
“Carrillo’s report misleadingly and falsely claimed that victim R.V. was violently kicking his legs and refusing to show his hands, while also omitting the number of strikes defendant Carrillo used,” according to the indictment.
Carrillo is charged with deprivation of rights under color of law resulting in bodily injury and assault with a dangerous weapon with the intent to do bodily harm. Both offenses carry possible penalties of up to 10 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.