VENTURA : Sheriff’s Deputy Appeals Suspension

A Ventura County sheriff’s deputy who struck a Camarillo man in the head with a nightstick last December will return to the county Civil Service Commission next month to appeal his three-day suspension for use of unnecessary force, a county official said Thursday.

Sheriff’s Deputy Steven Capuano received the unpaid suspension for striking Michael Harvey in the head with a baton and for using more force than necessary, said Assistant County Counsel Leroy Smith. Harvey was later released without being charged in connection with an allegedly stolen truck.

The department also cited Capuano for not reporting his use of the nightstick to his division commander.

The commission heard two days of testimony in Capuano’s appeal this week and will reconvene its hearing in September, Capuano said.

Capuano told the commission that he used the baton on Harvey, but said he used minimal force. He also testified that it is not common practice for deputies to routinely report their use of a baton to supervisors.

Capuano, a nine-year veteran never previously disciplined for using excessive force, already has served his suspension, Smith said. If exonerated by the commission, Capuano would receive his lost pay and have the suspension cleared from his record.