An ex-LAPD officer who shot and killed an unarmed homeless man in 2015 was arrested on a felony homicide warrant Thursday, authorities mentioned.
Clifford Proctor, 60, was arrested at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport after flying again to the U.S. from a overseas nation, based on two regulation enforcement sources with direct information of the scenario who requested anonymity to debate an ongoing legal case.
“The Los Angeles Police Division is conscious of the arrest of a former LAPD officer at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport on a felony homicide warrant,” the division mentioned in an announcement.
The deadly 2015 confrontation triggered a decadelong authorized struggle over whether or not Proctor ought to face legal prices for his on-duty actions.
Proctor fired two deadly pictures into the again of Brendon Glenn, 29, after a dispute with a bouncer outdoors a bar close to the Venice Speedway in Might 2015. Glenn was unarmed on the time, and the taking pictures sparked outrage and protests.
Former Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck publicly known as for Proctor to be charged within the taking pictures. In 2018, then-L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey declined convey a case.
Sources beforehand advised The Instances {that a} warrant for Proctor’s arrest was issued final yr, after then-Dist. Atty. George Gascón had the case reviewed by a particular prosecutor, Lawrence Middleton, whom he employed to re-examine prosecutions of police in on-duty shootings. Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman fired Middleton earlier this yr.
The district lawyer’s workplace declined to remark. Calls to Gascón, Middleton and Michael Gennaco, the particular prosecutor Hochman positioned over the case earlier this yr, weren’t instantly returned.
Invoice Seki, Proctor’s former protection lawyer, mentioned he had no details about an arrest. Courtroom data don’t present the submitting of a legal criticism in opposition to Proctor.
Proctor was recognized to be residing outdoors the nation on the time Gascón obtained the arrest warrant final yr, a number of regulation enforcement sources advised The Instances.
“It’s about time that the following step towards bringing justice for the household of Brendon Glenn is taken by arresting the officer who’s accountable for his loss of life,” mentioned V. James DeSimone, an lawyer for the Glenn household. “I do know that is one thing that is essential to his mom and sister they usually hope final justice is achieved with a conviction.”
Proctor and one other officer responded to studies of Glenn and his canine inflicting a disturbance after he’d been kicked out of the Financial institution of Venice restaurant on Windward Avenue in 2015, based on a report issued by the district lawyer’s workplace after they declined to prosecute Proctor.
Glenn’s canine moved towards Proctor, who threatened to shoot the animal earlier than ordering Glenn to go away the realm, the report mentioned. Glenn responded by hurling a number of racial slurs at Proctor. Each males are Black.
Glenn walked away from the realm and the officers adopted, the report mentioned. After Glenn obtained into an altercation with a bouncer at a special bar, Proctor and his accomplice tried to arrest Glenn, the report mentioned.
Through the ensuing wrestle, Proctor shot Glenn twice within the again whereas the officers have been wrestling with him on the bottom. In 2016, Proctor’s lawyer mentioned Glenn was reaching for his accomplice’s gun, however footage from the scene contradicted that declare.
Glenn’s hand was by no means seen “on or close to any portion” of the holster, based on a report made by town’s Police Fee in 2016, and Proctor’s accomplice by no means made “any statements or actions” suggesting Glenn was making an attempt to take the gun.
Proctor resigned from the LAPD in 2017.
Craig Lally, president of the Los Angeles Police Protecting League, the union that represents rank-and-file metropolis cops, mentioned in an announcement that the group hasn’t represented Proctor since he left the division.
“We now have confidence that the legal justice system will produce a good consequence with regard to this tragedy,” Lally mentioned.
