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Sergio Lugo recovers in a hospital with bruises, cuts, and a fractured cheekbone after an encounter with San Francisco cops. Lugo was falsely accused of assaulting a San Francisco police officer who together with two different officers illegally detained him in Feb. 2021, after beating him up, the general public defender’s workplace mentioned Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. (San Francisco District Lawyer through AP)
San Francisco prosecutors have dropped all costs towards a person who police mentioned assaulted a police officer in plainclothes final 12 months. The person, who was arrested by three cops, ended up within the hospital with bruises, lacerations and a fractured cheekbone.
Sergio Lugo was falsely accused of assaulting a San Francisco police officer who together with two different officers illegally detained him in February 2021 after beating him up, the general public defender’s workplace mentioned Wednesday.
The San Francisco Police Division didn’t instantly reply Wednesday to an e-mail from the Related Press in search of remark.
Brand’s legal professional mentioned she has filed a criticism with the Division of Police Accountability on his behalf.
Two officers, who had been surveilling a neighborhood for burglars, detained and questioned Lugo however after they instructed him they needed to look him, Lugo instructed them that he supposed to stroll away, the general public defender’s workplace mentioned.
“With none verbal warning, the 2 officers grabbed his arm, kicked his legs out from beneath him, and pinned him on the bottom,” the workplace mentioned.
A 3rd officer who joined in later admitted to hitting Lugo between 15 and 25 instances, the general public defender’s workplace mentioned.
After Lugo’s arrest, the San Francisco Police Division launched an announcement saying two officers had been injured when attempting to detain Lugo, who grew to become combative and produced a razor blade.
The division mentioned Lugo had attacked the officers, stabbing an officer in his left hand and left knee and that the opposite officer had been injured in his hand through the wrestle.
Lugo was booked into San Francisco County Jail on costs of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, possession of methamphetamine and possession of housebreaking instruments.
The general public defender’s workplace mentioned that when police first encountered Lugo, he was holding a silver object in his hand, which police thought was a vape pen.
“All events agree that when police pinned Mr. Lugo, the cap fell off, revealing that it was an X-acto Knife — a small pen-shaped device with a pointy edge typically utilized in crafts. The sharp edge prompted superficial cuts to at least one officer’s pinkie and knee, however the officers’ blows to Mr. Lugo’s head despatched him to the hospital with bruises, lacerations, and a fractured cheekbone,” the workplace mentioned.
Lugo was later charged with assault on an officer, exhibiting a lethal weapon to withstand arrest, and three counts of resisting arrest utilizing drive. He spent over 4 months in jail.
This week, because the case was on the point of go to trial, the protection argued that Lugo had dedicated no crime and the prosecutor agreed Tuesday to dismiss the case, the general public defender’s workplace mentioned.
“We fastidiously reviewed all of the proof on this case, together with statements, surveillance, the truth that cops weren't carrying physique worn cameras, inconsistencies in police officer statements, the truth that Mr. Lugo was behaving lawfully when stopped by police, and the images of the accidents of all events — which depicted extreme accidents to Mr. Lugo, whom police badly beat throughout this encounter — and it was clear that this was not a provable case,” mentioned Rachel Marshall, spokeswoman for San Francisco District Lawyer’s Workplace.