Officer Accused in Beating Suspended Without Pay

A Pasadena police officer accused of inflicting a beating in August that left a man with a broken arm has been suspended without pay as a result of an internal investigation, officials said Friday.

Pasadena Police Chief Barney Melekian said Officer Kevin Jackson will be suspended for a “lengthy period of time” for his role in the incident. The chief refused to be more specific.

Officer Craig Blumenthal, Jackson’s partner, received a written reprimand for his role in the incident that left Andri Davis, 43, hospitalized, Melekian said.

Davis has told authorities he was struck repeatedly with a baton by one officer and pepper-sprayed by another when they stopped him while he was walking home from an Elks Lodge meeting Aug. 2. Davis was not arrested.

The department will forward the allegations to prosecutors to determine if criminal charges should be brought against the officers. However, Melekian said he does not believe there is any evidence of criminal conduct.

Davis has contended the officers mistook him for someone else they were seeking. Melekian says Davis is wrong--that the officers knew who Davis was--but the chief has not said whether Davis had been suspected of any wrongdoing when the officers stopped him.