Officer to Be Tried in Assault

A former Burbank police officer was ordered to stand trial Wednesday on charges that he used excessive force against a transient and failed to report it, authorities said.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Kellogg ordered Daniel L. Shaw, 40, to trial on counts of assault and filing a false report.

If convicted of both charges, Shaw faces four years and four months in state prison, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

The charges stem from a Jan. 19 incident in which Shaw arrested transient Michael Vaughn for allegedly interfering with Burbank Fire Department personnel helping an injured person.

Shaw, a five-year veteran, allegedly used excessive force at the scene and during Vaughn’s booking at the Burbank jail, authorities said.

Shaw was placed on administrative leave and later dismissed, a Police Department spokesman said.

Vaughn, who suffered bruises but did not require hospitalization, died three months after the incident due to unrelated causes, according to Scott Carrier, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Coroner’s investigators found no sign of foul play or injuries resulting from Vaughn’s encounter with Shaw, Carrier said. Vaughn died from a massive gastrointestinal hemorrhage with an underlying ulcer, according to the coroner.

A pedestrian found Vaughn, 47, unconscious on the sidewalk on Victory Boulevard in Burbank on April 12. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Shaw was not required to post bail.