Los Angeles police officer charged with assault

theGRIO REPORT - An LAPD officer plead not guilty to charges of assault on Monday. If he is convicted, he could face up to three years in jail...

An LAPD officer pleaded not guilty to charges of assault on Monday.

If he is convicted, he could face up to three years in jail.

Richard Garcia, 34, was charged with assault by a public officer for applying unlawful force and has been on paid administrative leave since the incident in question in October 2014, reports KCAL.

At the time, Garcia was investigating a robbery. Clinton Alford Jr., who matched the description of the robbery suspect, did not stop when the plainclothes officer asked him to and continued to bike away. When officers caught up to Alford, he complied, lying down on the street with his hands behind his back.

Despite Alford’s compliance, Alford’s attorney says that video footage shows Garcia stomping and kicking Alford on the ground. Alford’s attorney also stated that they were fighting to get the video released to the public and planned on filing a civil rights lawsuit.

Watch a full report on the alleged assault below:

“I was just praying to God that they wouldn’t kill me. I felt that I was gonna die, until I passed out,” Alford said at a news conference Monday.

“I would like to see him terminated. And I would like justice,” he said.

In the meantime, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck released a statement that read in part:

Any officer that abuses the public’s trust is not welcome in the LAPD. The LAPD will take swift action to investigate and refer appropriate cases for prosecution to the L.A. District Attorney’s Office whenever an officer is suspected of committing a criminal act.

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