A Vancouver police officer, Andrea Mendoza, has been charged with fourth-degree assault after she Tased a man in the back, pulled down his pants and threatened to use the stun gun on his genitals outside a Walmart in May.
Mendoza has worked for the Vancouver Police Department for six years and is on paid administrative leave, according to police spokesperson Kim Kapp. Mendoza was charged with the misdemeanor in Clark County District Court on Wednesday, court records show.
Another police officer, Gabriel Patterson, was involved in the use-of-force incident but was not placed on leave or charged, Kapp said.
“The actions of the officer who deployed the Taser in the video are disturbing,” Vancouver Police Chief Jeff Mori said in a statement Thursday. “In order to maintain the integrity of the criminal justice process and the internal investigation, at this time, we will not be commenting further.”
The Vancouver Police Department’s statement did not identify the man who was Tased but said he required hospitalization. Police also didn’t give the location of the Walmart where the confrontation occurred.
Kapp referred questions to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Neither the office nor Prosecuting Attorney Tony Golik responded to messages from The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Mendoza and Patterson responded to the Walmart after loss prevention employees reported seeing a man and a woman leave the store with stolen merchandise on May 21, police said.
The officers found the two in the parking lot and ordered them not to leave. The woman fled and was not located, police said.
Body camera footage released by Vancouver police appears to show Patterson grabbing the man by the strap of his backpack and forcing him to the ground.
“This is for a stupid theft,” Mendoza can be heard saying in the video. “We’re going to (expletive) figure it out.”
As the two officers try to roll the man onto his stomach, the man stands up and appears to try to run away. Patterson is shown forcing the man back onto the ground and Mendoza is shown pulling out a yellow Taser and using it on the man’s back as he grunts in apparent pain.
Mendoza then exposed the man’s genitals and threatened him, police said.
“Knock it off or I’ll do it in your nuts,” Mendoza can be heard yelling in the video.
“I’m done. I promise I’m done,” the man responded.
“I will (expletive) Tase you in the nuts,” Mendoza said. “So when I say (expletive) roll over, roll the (expletive) over now.”
Patterson ordered the man, whose shirt is covering his face, to put his hands behind his back.
The man yelled out three times “I can’t breathe,” and said “I’m going to pass out” twice before Patterson appeared to pulled the shirt from his face.
The officers called for paramedics as the man can be heard gasping for breath.
“My hoodie’s around my neck,” the man said.
As sirens approach, the man asks the officers to cover his genitals. Mendoza is shown in footage reaching forward and pulling the man’s pants up.
The police statement said the man punched one of the officers in the face and kicked the other officer in the chest before he was handcuffed. The body camera footage and Walmart surveillance video shows a scuffle between the man and the officers but the images are not clear.
The man was handcuffed and treated at the scene and transported to a hospital. He was later booked into the Clark County Jail on charges of third-degree assault and third-degree theft, police said.
A Vancouver police supervisor reviewed Mendoza’s and Pattersons’ use of force three days later and brought it to the attention of Mori, who referred it to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office for an independent investigation the same day, police said.
The sheriff’s office completed its investigation July 20 and forwarded the case to the prosecutor’s office for review, police said.
The office filed fourth-degree charges against Mendoza on Wednesday, according to court records.
Vancouver police are conducting an internal investigation of what happened, police said.
The Vancouver Police Officers’ Guild blasted the decision to charge Mendoza, writing in a statement that she had “few reasonable options” after the suspect fought with Mendoza and her partner.
“[T]he Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has lost sight of its core obligation to hold criminals accountable,” a representative of the union wrote. “The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office withdrew criminal charges against the combative suspect and has instead baselessly charged Officer Mendoza with misdemeanor assault. That shocks the conscience. Officer Mendoza did not commit a crime. She did her job.”
