OXNARD : Police Exonerated in Brutality Case

Oxnard police did not use excessive force in the 1987 arrest of a drunk-driving suspect, a Ventura County Superior Court jury decided Monday.

The jury exonerated the Oxnard Police Department and former officer Ray Centeno Jr. of brutality in the arrest of William Paul Hinkle, 24, of Ventura.

“Even in the post-Rodney King era, a police officer can get a fair trial by jury,” said Brian Keighron, attorney for the city and Centeno.

Hinkle filed suit after his arrest on Halloween night, 1987. He said he was driving with friends and had an open beer container when he ran a stop sign and saw a police car. He said he pulled into a nearby store where he happened to work.

He admitted trying to evade the officers but said he gave up peacefully when Centeno found him in the store’s cooler. As he left the cooler, Hinkle said, he was punched in the back by Centeno and knocked to the ground, breaking his nose and chipping a tooth.

Centeno, however, said Hinkle put up a struggle throughout the arrest until several officers managed to push him into a patrol car. Keighron denied that Hinkle’s nose was broken in the arrest.

The jury was not told that Hinkle later pleaded no contest to resisting arrest, nor did jurors know that in 1989 Centeno was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in another incident and was dismissed from the force. The incident occurred while he was off duty, and Centeno was sentenced to 30 days in jail.

It took the jury less than 45 minutes to decide the case. “When you run away, you’re inviting a rough arrest,” said one juror, adding that the force used did not seem excessive.