The deputy charged onto the scene and kicked the door of a truck, threatening to shoot the man inside. After yanking the man onto the ground, the lawman punched him several times in his back and shoulders as other officers wrangled the suspect onto his stomach and into handcuffs, according to law enforcement reports.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department fired the deputy, Michael Courtial, last June, concluding he used unreasonable force and failed to use de-escalation techniques in the 2016 incident in Lancaster.
Now, Courtial has been newly granted a badge and gun after Sheriff Alex Villanueva reinstated him as a deputy during his first few months in office, the Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday in response to inquiries by The Times.
Villanueva has faced sharp criticism over his rehiring in recent months of another deputy, Caren Carl Mandoyan, who was discharged for violating department policies regarding domestic violence and making false statements to internal investigators.
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