SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco police officer who shot and seriously injured a 25-year-old man last year has been indicted by a grand jury - the second police officer to be charged in a use-of-force case in less than a month, authorities announced Monday.
District Attorney Boudin said that a grand jury on Friday indicted Police Officer Christopher Flores in the Dec. 7, 2019, shooting of Jamaica Hampton.
The grand jury also indicted Hampton, who was captured in surveillance video attacking Flores and Officer Sterling Hayes with a glass bottle moments before he was shot in the leg. Hampton survived but his leg had to be amputated.
Boudin said the court set bail but his office asked for only nominal bail and is not requesting pretrial detention against either defendant. He encouraged Flores and Hampton to voluntarily surrender.
Boudin did not provide any information on the charges and said he would release more information when an arraignment is scheduled.
In a statement, Police Chief William Scott said he was “surprised and quite frankly disappointed” by the indictment but added: “I have faith in our judicial system and confidence that justice will ultimately be done in this case.”
At the time of the shooting, Flores was a rookie officer still completing his field training. He and Hayes, his training officer, were searching for a burglary suspect when they approached Hampton in the Mission District.
Surveillance and body camera footage shows Hampton attacking the officers while they are still in their patrol car and then running away. After a brief foot chase, Hayes fires at Hampton multiple times. Hampton drops to the ground and is seen crawling and trying to get up when Flores, who was bleeding from the face, fires a single shot. Hayes can be heard yelling “stop, stop, stop!”
After the incident, Hampton was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a police officer and threat to an executive officer. Boudin withdrew those charges shortly after taking office in January pending further investigation.
It wasn’t immediately known if Hampton has retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Flores’ attorney, Nicole Pifari, said she was disappointed by the indictment, citing an “unprovoked and incredibly violent attack” during which her client was beaten over the head with a vodka bottle and seriously injured.
“Given everything that happened, we feel strongly that Officer Flores’s decision to fire his weapon was justified under the law,” she said in an email.
Tony Montoya, president of the Police Officers Association union, called Boudin’s decision to send the case to a grand jury instead of charging Hampton himself “absolutely appalling.”
“Boudin’s failure to personally file charges against Mr. Hampton for his vicious attacks on our officers sends a clear message that Boudin has no intention of protecting officers who are victims of violence,” Montoya said.
Flores is the second officer in two weeks to face criminal charges.
On Nov. 23, Boudin charged Christopher Samayoa, a former rookie San Francisco police officer, with voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, assault by an executive officer, assault with a semi automatic firearm and negligent discharge of a firearm in the killing of 42-year-old Keita O’Neil.
Samayoa was on his fourth day on the job when he fatally shot O’Neil, a carjacking suspect, in December 2017. O’Neil, who died at a hospital, was suspected of assaulting a California Lottery employee and stealing a van that belonged to the agency.
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