Plea lets ex-Torrance cop avoid jail for on-duty shooting of Black man

[ad_1] A former Torrance police officer who confronted felony costs for capturing a Black man fleeing against the law scene will keep away from jail time and ultimately see his case dismissed below a plea deal reached with Los Angeles County prosecutors.

David Chandler, 37, agreed to the deal in a downtown L.A. courtroom on Wednesday morning. Strolling with the help of a cane, he took a seat in Decide Alison Matsumoto Estrada’s courtroom as Deputy Dist. Atty. Brandy Chase learn out the phrases of the settlement.

Chandler should full 100 hours of neighborhood service, keep out of bother for a 12 months and relinquish the Peace Officer certification that permits him to work in state legislation enforcement, Chase mentioned.

Chandler agreed to every of the stipulations with the phrases, “Sure, ma’am.” If he adheres to the necessities, the case can be dismissed in November 2026, in keeping with the settlement. Chandler declined to deal with the court docket, asserting his fifth Modification rights.

“I feel the dismissal is a justified resolution by the D.A.’s workplace,” Tom Yu, an lawyer for Chandler, instructed The Occasions after the listening to. Yu declined to make Chandler accessible for an interview.

“He’s not returning to legislation enforcement,” Yu mentioned.

Chandler was beforehand linked to an notorious racist text-messaging scandal. He was one among greater than a dozen Torrance officers whose quantity was on a textual content thread during which they routinely used racial slurs, joked about killing Black suspects, bragged about utilizing extreme pressure and made homophobic and antisemitic feedback.

Legislation enforcement sources not approved to talk publicly concerning the case mentioned Chandler was investigated as a part of the scandal. The Occasions by no means noticed proof that Chandler despatched any racist messages.

Yu declined on Wednesday to reply questions concerning the text-messaging scandal or the capturing that led to the fees in opposition to his shopper.

The capturing occurred in 2018 when Chandler was one among a number of officers who responded to a report of a disturbance at an aged girl’s residence. Her grandson allegedly smashed a sliding glass door then left the realm, earlier than returning with a knife, information present.

It was not clear if the person brandished the weapon or threatened anybody earlier than Chandler fired “a number of rounds” as the person walked away, prosecutors alleged. The person was injured however survived.

L.A. prosecutors charged Chandler with assault by a public officer in 2021. A decide dominated there was sufficient proof to proceed to trial in 2023.

Within the text-messaging scandal, legislation enforcement sources mentioned Chandler was amongst officers who confronted scrutiny as a result of their telephone quantity was linked to a gaggle chat dubbed “The Boys” that was replete with racist feedback. Virtually each member of the chat was a Torrance police officer.

The texts had been despatched between Might 2018 and February 2022, in keeping with investigative stories made public by the the state Fee on Peace Officer Requirements and Coaching.

Chandler was fired by the Torrance Police Division in 2023 due to make use of of extreme pressure, in keeping with a web based database maintained by the state fee. It was not clear if the 2018 capturing was the extreme pressure allegation that led to Chandler’s firing. A Torrance police spokesman declined to remark.

Chandler stays “a part-time Soldier within the California Military Nationwide Guard,” in keeping with an company spokesman. He first joined the Guard in 2020. The pending felony case in opposition to Chandler has prompted him to be “flagged,” which means he can't be promoted, transferred or deployed, in keeping with a legislation enforcement supply with direct information of the scenario who spoke on the situation of anonymity to debate a personnel matter.

Chandler was not deployed to Los Angeles as a part of President Trump’s use of the navy to assist immigration raids earlier this 12 months, in keeping with a navy spokesman.

At the least seven members of the Torrance Police Division who had been linked to the scandal are now not with the company, in keeping with court docket information and the state fee database.

4 others have been charged with crimes.

In April, former officers Cody Weldin and Christopher Tomsic every pleaded responsible to felony vandalism for spray portray a swastika inside a car that had been towed from against the law scene. The officers’ arrest sparked the police investigation that exposed the texts. Every had to surrender their proper to be cops in California and can spend two years on probation, however each averted jail time.

Matthew Concannon and Anthony Chavez are awaiting trial on manslaughter costs within the 2018 killing of Christopher Deandre Mitchell, who was sitting in a automotive with an air rifle between his knees when the officers fired the deadly rounds. Mitchell, a car-theft suspect, was parked in a Ralphs parking zone when he was killed. Neither officer alleged that Mitchell grabbed the weapon or pointed it at them earlier than they started capturing, information present.

Within the textual content thread, officers mentioned the capturing used the N-word to explain Mitchell’s family, in keeping with information beforehand obtained by The Occasions. The identify of the officer who despatched that textual content message was redacted within the information. Concannon was investigated as a part of the scandal, however his lawyer says he didn't ship any racist texts.