The Los Angeles Police officer caught on video repeatedly punching a man during an arrest last week has been involved in three on-duty shootings during his career, including one that sparked violent protests in Westlake 10 years ago, two law enforcement sources have told The Times.
What We Know:
- Frank Hernandez, who has been with the LAPD for more than 20 years, was identified as the man under investigation for his actions during an April 27 arrest of a homeless man in Boyle Heights, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the case with the media.
- An LAPD spokesman said the department was barred from identifying the officer by state law. The department normally identifies officers involved in deadly force incidents, but the videotaped clash did not meet that standard.
- In this video, the man does not appear to be armed and is standing with his hands behind his back when the officer strikes him in the head and proceeds to continue punching him, even as the man stumbles away and attempts to shield himself. Police are still trying to determine whether the man had a weapon, a department spokesman said.
- The officer has been assigned to home pending investigations by the Internal Affairs and Force Investigation divisions, according to a department spokesman.
- David Winslow, who has confirmed he is representing the officer seen in the video but would not confirm or deny his identity, disputed the idea that that the suspect was surrendering, and said the man threatened the officer and struggled with him just before the first punch was thrown.
- Hernandez has been involved in at least three on-duty shootings during his career, including one where the city’s civilian Police Commission found fault with his actions. In September 2010, Hernandez shot and killed Manuel Jaminez, a Guatemalan day laborer who was allegedly drunkenly wielding a knife and threatening two women in Westlake.
- Jaminez died after he was shot twice. Activists and relatives later argued the shooting was unjustified and claimed Jaminez, who spoke the indigenous Guatemalan language K’iche, could not understand the officers’ commands.
- Two years earlier, Hernandez was involved in another controversial incident where he was chasing one suspect but ultimately ended up shooting an 18-year-old who was not involved in the initial incident.
- Authorities said Hernandez and a partner were pursuing someone who threatened police with a firearm when they encountered Joseph Wolf on a street corner. Hernandez yelled at the man to stop. Wolf ignored him and went inside, where Hernandez shot him in the leg, those records show. An LAPD account released at the time allegedly Wolf pointed a gun at the officers. The teenager was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
- In a civil lawsuit, Wolf later alleged that the LAPD fabricated the charges to cover up Hernandez’s use of force. The Police Commission found the shooting to be “in policy,” but said Hernandez’s tactics warranted “administrative disapproval”.
- In 1999, Hernandez also shot a robbery suspect who pointed a gun at him in South L.A. The woman survived, and a loaded firearm was recovered at the scene, police said.
- Carlos Montes, a member and organizer with Centro CSO: Community Service Organization in Boyle Heights who was involved in protests of Jaminez’s death years ago, said news that the officer involved in last week’s beating was Hernandez only intensified his feelings about the video.
Earlier this week, a police officer in New York City was also videotaped brutally beating a man for failing to practice social distancing.
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