Charge against Newport officer accused of reckless gun use is dismissed; lawyer says someone had drugged him

A criminal case against a former Newport Beach police Officer of the Year accused of recklessly firing his gun while off duty was dismissed this week as his lawyer claimed there was “very persuasive” evidence that the officer had been drugged before the incident.

The gunfire happened May 22, 2017, after Officer Roland Martin Stucken left a restaurant in San Clemente with a woman, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office. The two took an Uber vehicle to her neighborhood, where Stucken stepped out of the car and fired multiple rounds from his personal gun, prosecutors said.

Stucken was immediately placed on administrative leave and was later charged with a misdemeanor count of discharging a firearm with gross negligence.

The charge was dismissed Wednesday at a hearing at Orange County Superior Court’s Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.

Defense attorney John Barnett argued that an unknown person at the restaurant dosed Stucken with a tranquilizer known as a “date rape” drug that “renders the person walking, but unconscious of their activities.”

“There’s very strong, persuasive evidence that he was involuntarily intoxicated — so strong that the case got dismissed,” Barnett said.

A copy of the dismissal filing had not been posted to the court computer system as of Friday. District attorney’s office spokeswoman Kimberly Edds said “the case was dismissed because we were unable to prove the facts of the case.”

A Newport Beach Police Department spokeswoman said Thursday that Stucken, 34, was still on leave. She had no further comment, saying the matter is a personnel issue.

Stucken was a K-9 handler for the Police Department and was named Officer of the Year in 2016. He also worked as a detective.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which responded to the call in San Clemente, declined to release a copy of the incident report.

Common “date rape” drugs include the tranquilizer flunitrazepam (Rohypnol or “roofies”) and the sedative gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB). It was unclear which drug Barnett was referring to.

The typically easy-to-conceal, fast-acting drugs incapacitate victims, causing drowsiness, confusion, weakness, loss of coordination and memory impairment. However, Rohypnol and GHB also can paradoxically cause aggression and excitability, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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