Cerritos : Brutality Trial

Two Cerritos men who claim they were beaten by Los Angeles County sheriff’s officers in an altercation over an unleased dog have been acquitted of all but one of the charges filed against them in connection with the incident.

A Municipal Court jury in Bellflower last week found Peter de Jesus and Logan Ruru not guilty of charges that they resisted arrest. The jury also acquitted Ruru of one count of battery on a police officer, but convicted him of a second battery count involving another deputy.

The pair were arrested last spring in the garage of their home on Rocky River Lane after sheriff’s deputies answered an animal control officer’s call for assistance in issuing a lease-law citation to de Jesus. Charging that they were beaten without provocation, de Jesus and Ruru filed a brutality claim against Cerritos, which recently denied it, setting the stage for a possible lawsuit. The city contracts with the Sheriff’s Department for police protection. A similar claim is pending against the county.

In convicting Ruru of the battery charge, the jury found that he had punched one of the officers in the chest, setting off the incident. Ruru, a boarder in the de Jesus home, faces up to a year in jail and a fine.