BALDWIN PARK : 2 Former Officers Plead Not Guilty of Assault

Two former Baldwin Park police officers accused of severely beating a suspected burglar pleaded not guilty Tuesday on assault charges.

Kenneth Shearen, 38, and Louis Price, 29, face one count each of assault with a deadly weapon and assault under color of authority. Shearen also is charged with filing a false police report. They entered not guilty pleas to all charges at their Superior Court arraignment.

The charges stem from a Feb. 11, 1991, incident that occurred as the former officers searched for two men who allegedly had robbed a Texaco Food Mart on Baldwin Park Boulevard. One suspect was arrested immediately, but it took the officers longer to find Gilbert Gutierrez, who was hiding under shrubbery next to the station, said Deputy Dist. Atty. David Sotelo.

The former officers allegedly beat Gutierrez with a police baton and flashlight, breaking one of his ribs. He required 17 stitches to close a head wound, Sotelo said. The investigation began when one of the officers at the scene read the police reports, which indicated that Gutierrez fell of a roof. The officer reported the discrepancy to his supervisors, Sotelo said.