Alleged Victim of Burbank Police Brutality Dies

A transient who was the alleged victim of excessive force by a Burbank police officer three months ago has died, authorities said Monday.

A pedestrian found 47-year-old Michael Vaughn unconscious on the sidewalk Thursday on Victory Boulevard, and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene about 6 p.m., said Sgt. Bill Taylor, a Burbank Police Department spokesman.

Police and Los Angeles County coroner’s investigators found no sign of foul play or injuries resulting from an accident in connection with Vaughn’s death, Taylor said. The coroner’s office must complete toxicology tests before it makes a final determination regarding the cause of death, authorities said. Those results are expected in about six weeks.

On March 19, Officer Daniel L. Shaw was charged with two felony counts of using excessive force against Vaughn and one count of lying on a police report. Shaw has been on administrative leave since Jan. 25. If convicted of all counts, Shaw, 39, faces three years and eight months in state prison.

The charges stem from a Jan. 19 incident in which Shaw arrested Vaughn for allegedly interfering with Fire Department personnel who were helping an injured person. Police said Vaughn was bruised, but did not require hospitalization.

Shaw allegedly used excessive force at the scene and later during Vaughn’s booking at Burbank Jail, police said. Shaw was also charged with failing to disclose the use of force in his report.

He is to attend a preliminary hearing on the charges in Los Angeles Superior Court on May 8.