Criminal charges have been dropped against a 28-year-old man who was captured on video being punched and thrown to the ground by Santa Ana police officers during an arrest earlier this month.
Florentino Lopez will not face prosecution in connection with the October 1 arrest, which sparked widespread public outrage and triggered an internal police investigation after footage circulated widely on social media. Following the incident, Lopez had initially been booked and charged with resisting arrest and smoking near a school, alongside a citation for being a pedestrian on a roadway, according to his defense attorney, John Kremer.
On Tuesday, the Orange County district attorney’s office dismissed the case without providing a detailed explanation. Kimberly Edds, a spokesperson for the district attorney, explained in an email that prosecutors shifted their legal approach after reviewing the available evidence.
“Based on the totality of the evidence in the case, including the body worn camera video, we determined that pursuing the probation violation was the most appropriate sanction,” Edds wrote.
Court records indicate that Lopez pleaded guilty in January to multiple offenses, including carrying an unregistered firearm in public, possessing a concealed and loaded firearm in a vehicle, evading a peace officer, reckless driving, hit-and-run involving property damage, and resisting an officer. Those pleas resulted in a two-year probation term. Prosecutors are now seeking to penalize Lopez for violating the terms of that probation following his recent encounter with law enforcement.
Kremer noted that at least one of the officers involved was already aware that his client was on probation when they approached him for smoking marijuana. The confrontation unfolded outside the front lawn of Lopez’s parents’ home, where he and his younger sister were smoking. According to Kremer, two officers arrived at the scene and summoned Lopez out into the street.
An undated video of the encounter, filmed by Lopez’s sister and later shared online, shows Lopez standing on the hood of a police cruiser with his hands behind his back while speaking with the officers. In the footage, an officer asks, “You want to go down?” to which Lopez replies, “You’re going to do this? Look at me when you do it then.”
Moments later, the video captures the officer yanking Lopez to the ground, striking him with punches and kicks as Lopez attempts to shield his face with his hands and repeatedly shouts, “Lawsuit!” A second officer is visible kneeling on Lopez’s stomach during the struggle. The confrontation concluded when two additional officers arrived at the scene to assist, allowing the officers to place Lopez in handcuffs.
City officials stated during a city council meeting that they intend to hire an independent investigator to review the body-worn camera footage captured by the officers. The Santa Ana Police Department has not publicly identified the officers involved in the altercation, and a department spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment regarding the incident or the internal review.
Kremer maintained that the widely shared video evidence clearly demonstrates the use of excessive force by the responding officers. While choosing not to speculate on the prosecution’s motives for dropping the initial criminal charges, Kremer emphasized that his client is prepared to contest the probation violation.
“Needless to say, Mr. Lopez is quite pleased with the dismissal of the case, and he intends to vigorously defend against the alleged felony probation violation,” Kremer said.
