2nd Long Beach Officer Takes Leave

A second Long Beach police officer accused of misconduct in the arrest of Hawthorne Police Sgt. Don Jackson has taken stress-related leave.

Officer Mark Ramsey, who stood by as his partner appeared to push Jackson through a plate-glass window during a videotaped arrest Jan. 14, has been on “injured on duty” status since April 6 because of stress, a department spokesman said Tuesday. His partner, Mark Dickey, went on leave after charges of interfering with an officer were dropped against Jackson last month.

Jackson, who is on stress leave himself from the Hawthorne Police Department, came to Long Beach as part of a self-styled “sting” operation to verify allegations of racism and brutality against the city’s police force. A hidden television camera recorded his arrest by Dickey after his car was stopped by the two officers for allegedly weaving in traffic.

Both Long Beach officers were booked Monday, Dickey on misdemeanor charges of using excessive force and filing a false police report, and Ramsey merely on the second charge.

A Los Angeles Municipal Court judge Tuesday ordered the case moved to Long Beach and refused to dismiss charges against Dickey and Ramsey. The pair are scheduled to be arraigned May 15.