Officer’s battery trial is set to start

An off-duty Central California police officer accused of throwing a man down the stairs at an Angels playoff game four years ago is scheduled to go on trial today.

David Myles Hackman, 36, a San Benito County deputy sheriff from Los Banos, is charged with one felony count of battery causing serious bodily injury and faces a maximum of three years in prison.

Hackman, a Red Sox fan, was leaving Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Oct. 6, 2004, when Angels fan Christopher Slama, 32, of Huntington Beach tapped Hackman on the head with an inflatable thunder stick, according to prosecutors. Hackman mistakenly thought that Slama’s brother Daniel had tapped him, and followed Daniel, 32, of Anaheim up a set of stairs. Hackman allegedly grabbed his throat with one hand and the back of his shirt with the other, threw him backward down the stadium steps and ran down to kick Daniel in the leg as he lay on the ground.

The victim’s skull was fractured and vertebrae were injured. He was treated at UC Irvine Medical Center but is still suffering from his injuries, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Israel Claustro of the Special Prosecutions Unit, who is prosecuting the case.

The off-duty deputy apparently tried to flee the scene but was stopped by stadium security.

Opening statements are scheduled to begin in Department C-39 of the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

-- Susannah Rosenblatt