CHP Probing Off-Duty Officers in Alleged Assault

The California Highway Patrol is investigating whether off-duty CHP officers assaulted an Anaheim police sergeant and directed racial insults toward a group of spectators at a Los Angeles Rams football game last month, authorities acknowledged Thursday.

According to police, CHP Officer Lydia K. Martinez, who has appeared regularly on KABC-TV news traffic reports, was arrested during the Nov. 22 incident after fans complained about her behavior to Anaheim Stadium security.

Martinez allegedly assaulted Anaheim Sgt. Greg Mattis while he was trying to remove her and at least one other CHP officer from Anaheim Stadium after the disturbance in the stands, said Anaheim Police Lt. John Cross.

CHP Capt. Ray Blackwell confirmed: “We are investigating. We’re always concerned about the actions and demeanor of our officers . . . (and) about the way that our people are behaving and how their actions reflect on the department.”

Blackwell declined to release the names of the officers involved. The investigation will determine if any of the officers should be disciplined for misconduct, he added.

Martinez, 27, who is the CHP spokeswoman for KABC-TV’s 6 a.m. newscasts, was cited on misdemeanor charges of trespassing, assault on a police officer, battery on a police officer, and resisting, interfering with and obstructing a police officer. All are misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail.

Martinez, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, was released without bail. According to police and the CHP, Martinez and four other off-duty officers from the CHP’s East Los Angeles station went to the Rams-San Francisco 49ers game on Nov. 22. During play, someone in the stands complained about their behavior and contacted Anaheim police on duty at the stadium.

At least two of the CHP officers were thrown out of the stadium, Blackwell said, and one of them was trying to get back in when the alleged assault on Mattis occurred.

Cross said he did not know what provoked the disturbance in the stands. But a police officer, who requested anonymity, told The Times that the CHP is looking into whether the off-duty officers made racial remarks to a group of people from India who were sitting near them.

Blackwell said the CHP is looking into the possibility that the officers were drinking. He downplayed the alleged assault on Mattis, saying that the officer who was arrested apparently “brushed or shoved the arm of an Anaheim officer.”