An officer with the Veterans Affairs Police Department was indicted on civil rights and assault charges that claim he used a department-issued baton to strike a restrained man dozens of times at a VA medical center in California, the Justice Department announced.
Juan Anthony Carrillo, 45, was indicted by a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Thursday, according to the Justice Department. Carrillo faces charges of deprivation of rights under color of law resulting in bodily injury and assault with a dangerous weapon with the intent to do bodily harm.
The charges stem from his “excessive use of force” in a Jan. 16, 2022 incident where Carrillo allegedly beat a man about 45 times in 41 seconds at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, the Justice Department said. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
“The excessive use of force alleged in the indictment is disturbing and not representative of the high standards and restraint practiced by the overwhelming majority of police officers,” Donald Alway, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said in a statement. “The FBI is committed to protecting individual civil rights in the United States and will continue to work with our law enforcement partners, including the Veterans Affairs Police Department, to identify and investigate alleged civil rights abuses.”