2 Ex-Officers Indicted in Alleged Beatings of Suspects

A federal grand jury Thursday accused two former Adelanto police officers of trying to beat a confession out of one man and forcing another to lick his own blood off a booking room floor.

Thomas Boyd Chandler, 38, and Kenneth Eugene Gailey, 31, were each indicted on two counts of conspiracy and two counts of civil rights violations, authorities said. If convicted on all the charges, they face up to 40 years in prison and $1 million in fines.

According to prosecutors, the two officers took turns beating a man they suspected of abusing his young daughter in an attempt to get him to confess to the crime. Joseph Valdes allegedly was beaten May 6, 1994, as he sat in an interview room at the Adelanto Police Department, which is east of Victorville in San Bernardino County.

Before beating Valdes, Chandler allegedly said: “Are you going to tell us what we want to hear?”

When Valdes did not, the officers proceeded to “kick, punch and twist his limbs,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Jonathan Shapiro said. Valdes was never convicted of the alleged abuse.

On Oct. 11, 1994, the officers allegedly beat another man, Henry Easley, who had been brought into the police station on drug-related allegations. The pair allegedly beat Easley in retaliation for spitting on a fellow police officer, prosecutors said.

The officers allegedly struck Easley so hard on the head that he started to bleed, Shapiro said.

“Chandler verbally ordered Henry Easley to lick up blood from the floor of the booking room that had spilled from [his] injuries,” according to the indictment.

Chandler showed Easley a bullet and threatened to shoot him and leave his body in the desert if he reported the beating, court documents allege.

“This bullet has your name on it,” Chandler is quoted as saying in court documents.

The two officers, who have since left the department, were charged in state court with assaulting Easley, but the case was dismissed because of prosecutorial misconduct, according to attorney William J. Hadden, who represents Gailey. At that time, both officers pleaded not guilty to the charges. State prosecutors are appealing the dismissal.

Hadden said the charges involving Valdes are new allegations. He said Gailey, who is now a police officer in Arkansas, will plead not guilty to all charges at the April 28 arraignment.

Chandler’s attorney, Charles A. Goldwassen, said he had not reviewed the indictment or talked to his client and could not comment about the case.

An Adelanto Police Department spokesman declined to discuss the charges against the two former officers.

Prosecutors said Thursday that they had a strong case against the pair, but declined to discuss the type of evidence they have.

“Beating suspects, either to obtain a confession or for any other reason, violates the federal criminal civil rights laws, and threatens the due process rights of all citizens,” U.S. Atty. Nora Manella said.

According to the indictment, other officers witnessed the Easley beating. The two officers allegedly ordered their colleagues out of the station. Chandler allegedly told a reserve officer that he would never be hired as a full-time officer if he reported the beating, court documents said.

Prosecutors said race was not an issue in the beatings. The victims and the defendants are white, they said.

“They were equal opportunity beaters,” Shapiro said.