May Day Protest
By Aaron Blevins, 5/10/2012
Prosecutors on May 4 filed assault charges against a 23-year-old transient suspected of hitting a female LAPD officer on the back of the head with a drum during a May Day demonstration on May 1.
Brian German Mendoza pleaded not guilty, and will return to court on May 16 to set a date for his preliminary hearing.
Deputy District Attorney Frances Young said Mendoza is charged with assault on a peace officer and assault on a public official, both felonies, and a misdemeanor assault on a peace officer and misdemeanor battery with injury to a peace officer. Prosecutors will ask bail be set at $130,000.
Mendoza allegedly struck the officer on the head from behind after she passed by him during the demonstration downtown. Young said the officer sustained a concussion. The attack was caught on videotape.
If convicted of all counts, he faces up to nine years in state prison.
Tags | Brian Mendoza, LAPD, May Day
