Oxnard Officer Charged With Assault of a Burglary Suspect

Ventura County prosecutors have filed a felony charge against an Oxnard police officer, saying he used excessive force when arresting a burglary suspect early this year.

Veteran Officer Robert Flinn, 29, pleaded not guilty last week to assault under color of authority, an allegation filed late last month in Ventura County Superior Court.

Flinn used unnecessary force when he subdued and arrested Juan Lopez after a lengthy foot chase through the La Colonia neighborhood of Oxnard, a prosecutor said.

Flinn, who was placed on administrative leave immediately after the Jan. 27 encounter, faces a preliminary hearing later this month.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael K. Frawley said Flinn used too much force when he took Lopez into custody on suspicion of burglary. He reached that conclusion after studying the facts of the arrest for five months.

“We did a very thorough investigation and got every side of the story,” Frawley said Monday.

But William J. Hadden, Flinn’s Santa Monica-based attorney, said his client did nothing wrong and wants to return to the Oxnard Police Department as soon as he clears his name.

Hadden said Lopez refused to cooperate with Flinn, who suspected that Lopez had just attempted a residential burglary in La Colonia.

“He was chasing this burglary suspect for a good lengthy time,” Hadden said. “He was told to get on the ground at least twice, maybe more.

“In a situation like that, if you’re the officer, you require the suspect to get on the ground,” Hadden said. “The suspect did not get on the ground.”

Flinn “hit him with his fist, in which there was flashlight,” Hadden said. But Flinn “was doing nothing but preventing the citizens of the Colonia area from a burglary.”

Prosecutors, however, see the circumstances of the arrest differently.

“There was a flashlight involved in the striking,” Frawley said. “But it happened quite differently than the defense attorney is alleging.”

Lopez was taken to a local hospital and treated for his injuries before being booked at Ventura County Jail, the prosecutor said. Frawley declined to elaborate on the details of Lopez’s arrest or his injuries.

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A jail commander said Lopez was booked Jan. 27 on suspicion of battery on a police officer, burglary and resisting arrest. Lopez was released Jan. 30 but was arrested in March on suspicion of violating probation and being under the influence of a controlled substance.

Citing the ongoing criminal prosecution, Oxnard Police Chief Harold L. Hurtt declined to discuss details of the encounter that led to the felony charge against Flinn, who was sworn in as an Oxnard police officer in 1991.

“It’s a very unfortunate thing,” Hurtt said. “We have a very complex and dangerous job, and sometimes we act [in a way that] may prove contrary to what’s legal.”

After determining that there was enough evidence against Flinn to file a felony charge in the case, the district attorney’s office ordered him arrested on suspicion of assault under the color of authority.

Flinn was booked at Ventura County Jail and released immediately on his own recognizance, a jail commander said Monday.

Before being placed on paid leave, Flinn served on the department’s elite Special Weapons and Tactics squad.

Flinn is next scheduled to appear in court July 26, when a status conference is scheduled in the case. If there is no plea agreement by then, a preliminary hearing will be held July 29, records say.

Flinn could be sentenced to as many as three years in state prison and be ordered to pay a fine of up to $10,000 if he is convicted.