Beaumont Officer Blinds Latino Woman With Pepper Spray

From [HERE] A Beaumont police officer has been indicted by a criminal grand jury on three felony counts of assault and one felony count of use of force causing great bodily injury stemming from a DUI traffic stop in February, a District Attorney's spokesman said.

Beaumont police Officer Enoch Clark, 36, was arraigned Thursday morning in Riverside Superior Court, and he pleaded not guilty to all four charges, John Hall of the Riverside County D.A.'s office said.

"On Feb. 21, 2012, Clark was on duty, working patrol in the city of Beaumont," Hall said in a District Attorney's statement. "During his shift, Clark was involved in a possible driving under the influence investigation. While conducting that investigation, there was an altercation between the officer and a woman he was attempting to handcuff.

"Clark then pulled out a less-than-lethal device issued by his department called a JPX device," the District Attorney's statement said. "This device uses a 'wafer' of gun powder to propel a stream of pepper spray . . .  at a speed of more than 400 mph.

"The minimum distance the device is to be utilized is about five feet with the optimum distance to be used being between six and 16 feet," the District Attorney's statement said. "It was determined that Clark fired the JPX at the woman's face from a distance of about 10 inches. Both of the victim's eyes were severely injured and it is doubtful she will see again, according to medical reports."

Banning-Beaumont Patch reported on this incident three days after it occurred, and in late March.

"My daughter is blind," Joe Hernandez told Banning-Beaumont Patch in a phone interview Feb. 23. "She is blind in one eye. . . . It was a routine stop, trying to get her for DUI."

He said his daughter is Monique Hernandez, 30, and the incident occurred the night of Tuesday Feb. 21 in front of their home at 1738 Miranda Lane.

The woman's family is represented by Los Angeles attorney Milton C. Grimes, who said Feb. 23 his findings were preliminary, but they showed Beaumont police used "excessive force."

Grimes said Feb. 23 he was not aware of why Beaumont police stopped Monique Hernandez, but he said he knew enough to conclude that whatever occurred, it ended badly.

"The force they used was excessive," Grimes said. "She had no weapons. She posed no threat. Preliminarily, investigation shows both her eyes are affected. She's totally blind in one eye."

Joe Hernandez said he'd talked to his pastor before approaching news media.

"This is not right," Hernandez said Feb. 23. "Excessive force kicked off. They shot her in the temple, with a JPX gun, point-blank."

The Beaumont Police Department requested investigation of the incident by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, which then forwarded its findings to the District Attorney's Office, Hall said.

"The investigation showed that Clark had been trained on the proper use of the JPX device, including the distances at which it should be used and the dangers of using it at a distance of less than five feet," Hall said.

Prosecutors reviewed the evidence and brought the case before a criminal grand jury, "made up of 19 members of the community, to allow members of the public to determine whether or not a crime had occurred," Hall said.

After an evaluation of the evidence and testimony, the grand jury concluded the actions of Clark were criminal and returned its indictment on April 19, Hall said.

On Thursday, Clark was arraigned on four counts: assault under the color or authority, assault with a less lethal weapon, use of force causing serious bodily injury, and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury. There is also an enhancement that he personally inflicted great bodily injury.

All four counts are felonies, Hall said. Clark was expected to be booked and his bail was $50,000, Hall said.

The grand jury indictment became public after Clark was arraigned in Dept. 41 at the Hall of Justice in Riverside. Grand jury proceedings, by law, are secret until a defendant has been arraigned on the indictment. Clark has a trial readiness conference on May 29.

The Beaumont Police Department issued a statement before noon Thursday addressing Clark's indictment.

The department has hired an outside investigative firm to conduct an administrative review of Clark's actions. The police department expects that investigation to be concluded shortly.

"Officer Clark has been placed on Administrative Leave during the investigation, which again is standard protocol in these types of events," the Beaumont PD statement said.