Man sues Cathedral City police over 2020 beating caught on viral video

A man who was beaten by a Cathedral City police officer following a pursuit for a traffic violation in 2020 has sued the city and the since-departed officer who broke his ankle with a baton.

The lawsuit filed by Jose Lenor Garcia and alleging excessive force comes weeks after four felony charges against him were dismissed by prosecutors.

Then-Officer Jeffrey Aguirre beat Garcia with a baton after several other officers had removed the man from his car and were attempting to handcuff him. The Nov. 21, 2020, confrontation was captured in dash and body-worn camera footage, some of which was later posted online.

Garcia, now 34, sued the city, its police department and Aguirre in United States District Court on Jan. 31, soon after most charges in his criminal case were dropped. (He remains charged with evading arrest, accused of fleeing when officers tried to pull him over.) The lawsuit asks for financial damages, alleging Garcia's civil rights were violated by Aguirre's use of excessive force and that the city is legally liable for failing to train the officer properly.

Garcia's lawyers wrote in the complaint that he was clearly submitting to being arrested when Aguirre struck the unarmed man six times with his baton to "let out his frustration."

"It's sad, frankly, that a police officer would engage in this type of conduct for a person that was surrendering," Christian Contreras, one of Garcia's attorneys, said in an interview Tuesday. "And it's all on video. Obviously, the video speaks for itself, but there's clearly excessive force in this case."

Aguirre was investigated by his department for striking the unarmed man multiple times, ultimately resulting in a broken ankle, when he posed no apparent threat and was in the process of being arrested.

Records of the investigation obtained by The Desert Sun show that several officers involved in the short pursuit, and even Aguirre himself, ultimately said Garcia could have been arrested without being beaten. The city's police department, and City Manager Charlie McClendon, said that Aguirre was suspended and ultimately left the department. Neither would say whether he resigned or was fired. Department documents showed that Aguirre's actions were officially ruled not justified.

One officer attempted to pull Garcia over at around 3 a.m. after he failed to yield near a convenience store on Avenida Maravilla and Ramon Road. But when the officer got out of his vehicle to approach, Garcia sped off. Several officers then pursued him through residential streets before he stopped at a home that later was found to belong to his parents. He again sped off and police used a spike strip to deflate his tires.

Aguirre also drove over the spike strip and his tires were deflated. He swerved into the oncoming lane to avoid hitting another patrol car, when Garcia U-turned and drove into his patrol vehicle. No officers were injured during the pursuit. Footage shows one officer pull Garcia from the car and tell him to get on the ground. Aguirre can be seen jumping over the hood of another patrol car as Garcia is pulled out, getting out a baton and hitting the man on the ground repeatedly.

A year and a half after the incident, in May 2022 the Riverside County District Attorney's Office filed five felony charges against Garcia. The DA's office did not say why that much time passed before filing charges. Four of the charges were dismissed at a preliminary hearing last month: two counts each of assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest. Garcia is now charged with only evading arrest.

John Hall, a spokesperson for the DA's office, confirmed that his office dropped the four charges before the hearing, but did not say why.

Details of the beating and the body cam footage largely remained out of the public eye until a video was posted online and began going viral in late 2022, about two years after the confrontation. McClendon told The Desert Sun that the department had reported it to the California Department of Justice, according to use of force laws, a few months after it happened.

A former Cathedral City police officer, Cladiu Murzea, had gotten the video through a public records request and posted it online, later saying he believed the confrontation was not adequately being investigated by the department. The department made no attempt to report the confrontation to the public until recieving inquiries from the media after the video was posted online.

Murzea also had some significant workplace conflict brewing at the time. He was criminally charged with stealing fentanyl from a crime scene and overdosing on it in the department's gym while on duty. He survived, and described the overdose as a suicide attempt, alleging he was harassed by his coworkers and bosses.

Murzea pleaded guilty last year to two felony counts for making threats and one misdemeanor for destroying evidence related to the fentanyl theft. He was granted probation and ordered to seek treatment. His felony convictions mean he's barred from serving as a police officer.

Aguirre has not been charged with any crime for the beating of Garcia. Hall, the DA's office spokesperson, said prosecutors determined Aguirre did not commit a crime.

Christopher Damien covers public safety and the criminal justice system. He can be reached at christopher.damien@desertsun.com or follow him at @chris_a_damien.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Cathedral City police sued over beating that broke man's ankle