In the seemingly endless continuum of police misconduct, this has to win some sort of prize:
A Bakersfield police officer has been placed on paid administrative leave after he allegedly tickled the feet of a man shot dead by police and said, “tickle, tickle.”
Bakersfield police spokesman Sgt. Joe Grubbs confirmed that Officer Aaron Stringer was on leave from the department and that an internal affairs investigation was underway.
Stringer is accused of grabbing Ramiro James Villegas’ head and touching his feet as he lay dead on a gurney, the Bakersfield Californian reported. He reportedly told another officer that he “loves playing with dead bodies,” the newspaper reported
It gets worse. According to his attorney, Mr. Villegas was Tasered and shot nine times (no particular order was specified) after leading police on a chase in which Villegas eventually struck a light signal pole. Told to get out of his vehicle, Villegas, according to police, "reached toward his front waistband," approaching them in "an aggressive manner."
But according to witnesses at the scene, and another attorney representing the Villegas family, all the 22 year old Villegas did was put his hands up. All parties involved, including the police, agree that no weapon was ever recovered.
Officer Stringer, who arrived at the shooting scene later and assisted with interviewing witnesses, then took a probationary police trainee, Lindy DeGeare, down to the Kern Medical Center, where Villegas' body had been transported, purportedly to give DeGeare some experience with dead bodies. After twisting Villegas' toes, Stringer then purportedly tried to pry open his mouth and twist his head to determine whether rigor mortis had set in. Another officer, assigned to watch the body, observed all this.
DeGeare, who reported this to her superiors, told investigators that she felt uncomfortable with the situation and did not touch the body.
As they drove back to KMC, Stringer told DeGeare, "If detectives ask if you've seen the body just say no," according to her statement to investigators. She said no one asked, and she wouldn't have lied if they had.
The following evening, just before briefing, DeGeare said she heard Stringer talking to Barrier, "joking around" and talking about how he had "popped" Villegas' toes. She said he was referring to when he pulled on the toes.
DeGeare acknowledged in the investigation that she "should have said something" at that time, and she "just knew it was wrong."
The reports say DeGeare told investigators Stringer used both hands to twice turn Villegas' head to a forward position before letting it go and watching it return to its original position toward the left.
She said it was at this point Stringer told her he "loves playing with dead bodies" and
laughed, according to reports.
California law prohibits moving a body without first obtaining the permission of the coroner, and Stringer had no such permission. However the Assistant District Attorney Scott Spielman, after reviewing the case, declined to press charges against Stringer since the body had already been moved from the "crime scene" to the hospital.
"It’s about the most ghoulish and disturbing behavior,” [Villegas' family Attorney, Mark] Geragos told the Los Angeles Times.
Geragos said the Bakersfield Police Department has demonstrated “a pattern of shooting to kill” young, unarmed Latino men.
Stringer has an interesting prior history. Awarded a
"Medal of Valor" for saving the life of another officer, he also shot and killed a man who charged at him with a bicycle lock. He was also arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run driving under the influence of a sleeping pill (Ambien). He pled no contest to a "wet and reckless charge" and was ordered to attend a motor vehicle class.
The Bakersfield Police Department's "Critical Incident Review Board" determined that Villegas' shooting was "within department policy."
There appears to be no definitive statement on how long Stringer's "paid administrative leave" will last.