Thursday 21st May, 2015 9:11am
The Los Angeles police officer who shot and killed
homeless man, Brendon Glenn, on Windward Ave., was investigated last year for allegedly filing a false police report. He was however, not charged.
Clifford Proctor, 50, a seven-year department veteran, has been assigned to home duty following the shooting death of 29-year-old Glenn.
In May of last year, Proctor was investigated for allegedly omitting witness statements from a police report, but the District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges due to a “lack of sufficient evidence,” according to a charge-evaluation worksheet obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
LAPD spokesman Cmdr. Andrew Smith declined to comment on the case, saying it was a personnel matter.
According to the District Attorney’s Office worksheet, Proctor and his partner were investigating a report of vandalism and violation of a restraining order involving two men, Richard Smith and Salvatori Avini. Smith had taken the restraining order out against Avini.
According to the D.A.’s report, Smith told Proctor he had seen Avini
pull a wooden gate to Smith’s driveway off its hinges. Proctor arrested Avini on suspicion of vandalism and violating the order.
When a detective reviewed Proctor’s report on the arrest, she saw there were two witness names on the cover sheet but no statements from them. When questioned, Proctor said the witnesses were tow truck drivers who claimed they damaged the gate to Smith’s property, and he failed to include their statements
because they conflicted with Smith’s account.
Although Avini still could have been arrested solely for violating the
restraining order, Proctor said that would only be a misdemeanor, and “Iwanted him for a felony,” according to the worksheet.
Proctor submitted another report with the two truck drivers’ statements, and Avini was eventually charged with violating the protective order, according to the report. Avini complained to the LAPD, claiming Proctor falsely arrested him and impounded his vehicle with “evil intent,” according to the D.A.’s memo.
Prosecutors concluded that Proctor did not make false statements, and while it could be argued that omitting information could be considered a false statement, there was “no authority to support such and argument.”
Glenn was shot around 11:30 p.m. May 5 on Windward Avenue just west of Pacific Avenue. Police said officers initially responded to a call about a person harassing people on Windward Avenue. They spoke briefly to the suspect, who walked away toward the boardwalk, police said.
The officers returned to their car but then saw the suspect struggling with someone, apparently a bouncer at the Townhouse bar, on the sidewalk.
The officers approached and a struggle ensued, ending with the shooting.
Glenn was buried yesterday in New York.
