Free Republic

Two California police officers who were videotaped in a violent struggle with a homeless man during an arrest were acquitted Monday of killing him. It was a rare case in which police officers were charged in a death involving actions on duty. One of the officers acquitted had been charged with murder. Jurors took less than two days to reach their verdicts. ormer Cpl. Jay Cicinelli was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter and excessive use of force. Spectators let out a gasp as the verdict was read.

FULLERTON – Acting Police Chief Kevin Hamilton publicly apologized Tuesday night for four narcotics detectives mistakenly entering the wrong house while searching for a suspect. Hamilton, a captain filling in for the chief, who is on medical leave, also outlined during the City Council meeting several policy changes resulting from the incident. On Oct. 20, 2010, detectives entered the home of Chuck and Robyn Nordell, in the 200 block of Ventura Place. The suspect who police were looking for was actually in the house next door. The Nordells, along with their 23-year old daughter and 26-year old son, were home...

The Fullerton Police Department, already reeling from criminal charges filed against two officers in the death of a homeless man, has been reprimanded by a federal judge for allowing a police officer to return to patrol after he was accused of groping women. Seven women have accused Officer Albert Rincon of sexually harassing or groping them during arrests. In a strongly worded opinion, U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford refused last week to throw out a lawsuit by two of the women. After the ruling, the city of Fullerton tentatively agreed to settle the case, according to attorneys and court records....

A U.S. district court judge's decision earlier this week further tainted the already ailing image of the Fullerton Police Department. In a court document posted on the Friends For Fullerton's Future blog, U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford writes some cutting words about the department and their handling of allegations of sexual misconduct by an officer. Officer Albert Rincon, who was hired by the department five years ago, allegedly had a habit of detaining women and either making sexual propositions to them, groping them, or doing both, the document states. Rincon admitted that, in violation of city policy, he never...

A shocking video has been released allegedly showing police officers tasering and beating a homeless man to death who they claim was resisting arrest. Though the video is not clear, eye witnesses say the homeless man - Kelly Thomas, 37 - was unable to put up any resistance and was lying on the ground on his front when the attack took place on July 5. His screams and cries for his father can be heard amid the tasering noises.

In March, former Fullerton police officer Todd Alan Majors, 30, was facing 14 felonies and three misdemeanors. Major’s life came to a crashing halt when internal affairs investigators found him in an alley behind his Seal Beach apartment high on pills. According to the search warrant documentation, Major was showing signs of “possible narcotic analgesic intoxication.” Major was exhibiting symptoms such as slurred speech, slow movement, and droopy-eyelids. Major was a six-year Veteran for the Fullerton police department. He was hired just after pleading guilty for driving with a blood alcohol level that was over the legal limit when he...

A Fullerton police officer has been put on paid administrative leave after she was arrested on suspicion of stealing an iPad from a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint in an airport Kelly Janeth Mejia, 25, was arrested last month at Miami International Airport on suspicion of stealing an iPad that belonged to another traveler. She has been with the Fullerton Police Department for about six years, four of them as a sworn officer. Mejia was spotted on surveillance video placing the iPad in her carry-on bag after taking it from a bin adjacent to a metal detector, according to the...