A San Jose police officer is facing an assault charge stemming from a July incident where he was seen on video beating a woman after he ordered her out of her car, prosecutors said.
Matthew Rodriguez, 36, was charged with unlawful assault and battery under color of authority, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday. Rodriguez was seen on both cellphone footage and body camera video dragging and kicking a female driver during the July stop, according to the DA.
Rodriguez and another officer stopped Esperanza Marin in a McDonald’s parking lot over suspicion that the car’s driver was wanted for evading police twice before, the San Jose Police Department said at the time. She was in the car with two young children and a female friend who was not named.
Police said that the officers used force after the driver “failed to comply with their commands.”
The video footage, however, contradicted that claim, according to the district attorney’s office. Marin exited the vehicle and got down on the ground as commanded when Rodriguez then allegedly told her that he would kick her in the face, the district attorney’s office said.
Rodriguez allegedly kicked Marin in the stomach and dragged her several feet away from the car by her handcuffs, according to the office. Marin was then arrested for a suspended license, possession of paraphernalia and resisting arrest, but the district attorney’s office has declined to file charges against her.
It was not immediately clear whether Rodriguez had retained an attorney.
The San Jose Police Officers’ Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.
The officer was placed on paid leave in July while the incident was investigated, NBC Bay Area reported after cellphone video surfaced at the time. San Jose Police Chief Edgardo Garcia said Tuesday in a statement that these types of investigations are “deeply disappointing but are necessary.”
“Every day hundreds of San Jose Officers patrol our city and encounter similarly challenging circumstances and navigate them appropriately,” Garcia said. “We completed a thorough investigation and sent our findings to the District Attorney for review where a filing decision was made.”
A spokesperson for the department said it unclear whether police would release the body camera footage.
Officers must be held to a high standard and shouldn’t use more force than necessary to bring in suspects, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in his Tuesday statement.
“When they do, they not only commit a crime, they weaken the bonds of trust with the community that so many excellent police officers have worked their entire careers to build,” Rosen said. “The SJPD detectives assigned to this case conducted a fair, thorough and professional investigation involving one of their own officers.”
The district attorney’s office said Rodriguez would be surrendering himself on a warrant, but the timing of the surrender was unclear. Santa Clara County Jail records were not available for him Tuesday evening.
Rodriguez faces a year in jail if convicted on the misdemeanor charge.
Caitlin Fichtel contributed.
