Officer Accused of Assault Ordered to Stand Trial

An Oxnard police officer accused of beating a suspected burglar early this year must stand trial on felony assault charges, a Ventura County judge said Monday.

An investigator working with the district attorney’s office testified that a fellow officer saw Robert Flinn use excessive force to subdue suspect Juan Lopez on Jan. 27 after a lengthy foot chase through the La Colonia neighborhood of Oxnard.

Flinn, 29, with five years on the force and a stint on the Oxnard SWAT team, remains on administrative leave pending the outcome of the trial. His wife and several fellow officers were in the courtroom Monday.

At the hearing, district attorney investigator Dennis Fitzgerald said former Oxnard Police Officer David Hawtin told him that Flinn hit Lopez after the suspect had already given up.

Hawtin told investigators he had a clear view of the incident and saw Flinn strike Lopez in the face with a flashlight as Lopez was holding up his hands in surrender. The blow cut Lopez above his left eye and knocked him to the ground, according to Fitzgerald’s testimony at Monday’s preliminary hearing.

Fitzgerald also testified that in interviews after the incident, Hawtin told him that Flinn hit the suspect once more in the head after he was already on the ground.

Hawtin said he asked Flinn why he hit Lopez and Flinn said only, “I don’t know,” according to Fitzgerald’s testimony.

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But Flinn’s defense attorney, William Hadden, said Lopez had been eyeing Flinn’s gun, and that Flinn reacted defensively and within the guidelines of the law.

Flinn struck Lopez in the chest--not the head--to subdue Lopez and get him on the ground after the suspect had repeatedly ignored Flinn’s urging to get on the ground, Hadden said.

“[Flinn’s] not saying he didn’t hit him,” Hadden said. “But he hit the guy only after he would not submit, and he hit him in the chest.”

Flinn had reportedly chased Lopez for several blocks, jumping over fences and crossing several people’s yards, before Lopez finally stopped, Hadden said.

He said that Lopez had a checkered past and was suspected of breaking into a home before the incident. Lopez has not yet been charged with the burglary.

As to the testimony of Hawtin, Flinn’s fellow officer, Hadden said there was some mutual animosity.

“[Hawtin] does not have a long and friendly relationship with Officer Flinn,” Hadden said. “I think you will see in the trial that his testimony will be found inaccurate.”

Hadden would not elaborate on the friction between Hawtin and Flynn but said it would come out in trial.

Since the incident, Hawtin has left the department and moved to West Virginia, but his departure has nothing to do with the incident, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael K. Frawley.

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Frawley denied Hadden’s contention that Hawtin gave an erroneous account of the incident because of some sort of mutual resentment.

And Frawley added that Lopez’s previous criminal record was not relevant to the case.

“An officer must still be held to a certain standard of conduct no matter who the suspect is, otherwise they could do whatever they wanted to,” Frawley said.

Frawley said that Lopez may still be charged with burglary.

“That’s still a possibility right now, but we’re dealing with the most serious thing first, and then we’ll see what happens to Mr. Lopez.”

Meanwhile, Lopez has notified the city of Oxnard that he plans to sue for the medical injuries he said he suffered in the incident.