California town pays $1.5 million, cop charged with assault after filming girl

The city of Rialto paid $1.5 million to a teenage girl who was filmed being thrown to the ground by a police officer who later quit his job and now faces criminal charges.

Ivan Delgadillo-Arce has pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault under the guise of authority. A hearing scheduled for Tuesday, May 23 at Rancho Cucamonga Superior Court continued through June 23. His lawyer, Noel Arreola, declined to comment on the case on Wednesday.

Delgadillo-Arce left the department on April 28, Cpl. Nic Parcher, who declined to say whether the officer was fired or resigned.

After the Feb. 11, 2022, incident, which began when officers arrested the girl who was riding a motorized bicycle, Police Chief Mark Kling said his department is investigating the officer’s decision to trip the girl. and later placing his hand on the girl’s throat during the arrest.

One of the things required to file the assault under authority charge is that the officer “acted without legal necessity,” said Jacquelyn Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office. She declined to say which two specific actions prompted the charges.

Kling apologized.

“At a time when our police department is struggling to build community relationships, we certainly didn’t pull off this encounter,” Kling said in a statement shortly after.

The girl receives $1 million from the settlement, according to court records. She received $200,000 on her 18th birthday in April, with the rest coming from a city-funded annuity. Caree Harper’s law firms will receive $500,000.

The girl, 16 at the time, was driving near Linden and Pinedale avenues when Delgadillo-Arce and her partner stopped her. Delgadillo-Arce got upset when the girl didn’t give her address, saying only that she lived in the neighborhood.

Delgadillo-Arce, according to comments attributed in the lawsuit to audio from his uniformed video camera, threatened to take his bicycle away.

“You don’t talk to your dad or your mom,” Delgadillo-Arce said. “You’re talking to police, okay? Stop being a smartass and we can treat you like a young lady, okay? »

Delgadillo-Arce said she was going 40 mph and he wasn’t sure about it. The girl denied going that fast and Delgadillo-Arce replied that officers had to “get up until about 80” to catch her.

“And you were hauling ass,” Delgadillo-Arce added. “Again, be respectful and we will be respectful. Don’t be smart and we’ll be respectful.

Delgadillo-Arce threatened to take her handcuffed to the police station if she did not give her address. She then called someone nearby and asked them to film the encounter, which later appeared on TikTok, and call her brother.