ALBUQUERQUE
A federal judge today sentenced a former detective with the Belen Police Department to five years probation for beating a handcuffed suspect in 2012, officials said.
John Lytle, 42, a former detective with the Belen Police Department in Belen, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court for violating an arrestee’s civil rights by assaulting him during the course of an investigative stop and arrest.
(June 17, 2015 News Report)
As part of his plea agreement, Lytle is precluded from working or seeking future employment as a law enforcement officer in any capacity. He also must forfeit his law enforcement certification.
During his guilty plea in April 2014, Lytle admitted that on March 15, 2012, while working in his capacity as a Belen Police Department detective, he repeatedly struck the victim, identified by the initials R.A., who was handcuffed and compliant during the entire course of the investigative stop.
Lytle further admitted that, at one point during the stop, he pulled the handcuffed victim from the back of a police squad car, threw him to the ground, and struck him again. The victim suffered injuries to his face and torso as a result of Lytle’s assault, according to the plea agreement.
The case was investigated by the FBI.