Pomona Officer Acquitted of Fatal Assault Charges

A Pomona police officer has been acquitted of charges that he struck an off-duty RTD bus driver with a nigh stick while the man, who later dies was bound and handcuffed.

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated less than a day last Thursday before finding Officer Kenneth Gillespie innocent of assault and assault under the color of authority, Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard B. Healey said Tuesday.

Gillespie was indicted last September by the Los Angeles County Grand Jury in connection with an Oct. 4, 1984, incident that resulted in the death of Michael McCoy Taylor, 40.

Taylor, an off-duty bus driver who later was found to have traces of the drug PCP in his blood and brain, was arrested by Pomona police after he was spotted standing in traffic near the junction of the San Bernardino Freeway and the Corona Expressway.

When police officers released Taylor from his handcuffs as they were turning him over to two California Highway Patrol officers, a fight broke out. At one point, Taylor kicked Gillespie in the face and knocked him down, according to trial testimony.

The CHP officers told the jury that once they had again handcuffed Taylor, Gillespie struck the suspect about his head and neck with a night stick.

Gillespie denied it. Instead, he testified that he hit Taylor several times with his fists while Taylor was still resisting arrest. Gillespie’s version was, in essence, supported by two other Pomona officers, Healey said.

The Los Angeles County coroner determined that Taylor died of a blow to the neck and a cut spleen. Authorities were unable to determine if those injuries were suffered during the melee with the officers or after Taylor was subdued, Healey said.