A former Beaumont police officer who blinded a woman when he fired a pepper spray pistol inches from her face during an arrest was on probation Friday, serving the first week of a 36-month term after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge.
Earlier this month, Enoch “Jeremy” Clark, 43, admitted one count of assault by a public officer, and in exchange for his admission, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office dropped a felony count of assault by a peace officer causing injury, along with a sentence-enhancing great bodily injury allegation.
Clark’s sentencing hearing had been set for Friday, but by mutual agreement of the prosecution and defense, the matter was moved up to Aug. 27, apparently due to scheduling conflicts.
Superior Court Judge John Molloy imposed the sentence stipulated under the plea agreement, and in addition to three years probation, ordered Clark to complete 1,440 hours of community service at a nonprofit organization approved by the Department of Probation.
The D.A.’s office has not responded to a request for comment on the reasoning behind the plea deal.
Clark was first tried in May 2014, when a Riverside jury deadlocked 10-2 in favor of convicting him. A retrial started in January 2017, but after less than a week of testimony, Judge Michael Donner brought a halt to proceedings because of defense allegations that the prosecution had not met its obligation to share documents produced during pretrial discovery.
Clark could have faced up to four years in state prison had he been convicted of the felony charge and enhancement.
According to Deputy District Attorney Mike Carney, the defendant discharged a pepper spray pistol into the eyes of Monique Hernandez, then 32, on the night of Feb. 21, 2012, after he became “annoyed” with her because she wouldn’t comply with his commands to stop resisting arrest.
The woman’s corneas were shredded and her optic nerve irreparably damaged, according to trial testimony.
Carney said Clark was completely unjustified when he pulled the trigger on the JPX Jet Protector pepper spray gun, which discharges propellant at 400 miles per hour. The device was less than 10 inches from Hernandez’s face, and the contents penetrated her eyes, dispersing into her skull, according to the prosecutor.
He said the defendant lied to cover up his actions, telling investigators that he felt his life was threatened and he was “slipping off balance” while holding the gun, causing it to fire prematurely.
The defense blamed Clark’s superiors, inadequate training on the weapon’s use, unclear instructions on how to operate it and other factors for what transpired.
According to the defense, JPX manufacturer’s warnings on the minimum safe distance to fire the pepper pistol were confusing, most notably in the instruction manual, which included a misplaced comma suggesting the weapon could be fired from one meter — three feet — instead of the 1.5 meters actually required.
The defense argued that the Beaumont Police Department never gave officers an opportunity to test-fire a JPX pistol before carrying one on patrol, even though a videotape recording played during Clark’s trial showed him and other officers receiving instruction on the appropriate deployment of the device, which resembles a Star Trek phaser.
Dash-cam video from Clark’s patrol car on the night of the confrontation showed Hernandez with her hands behind her back, jostling as Clark tried to handcuff her.
The lawman repeatedly tells the allegedly intoxicated motorist to “stop resisting” and “get your hands behind your back,” while Hernandez answers, “I’m not resisting,” demanding to know why she’s being arrested and what she “blew” in her roadside breathalyzer test.
The video clip shows Clark firing the device directly into Hernandez’s face.
The ex-cop, the city of Beaumont and several of the defendant’s colleagues were sued in federal court for civil rights violations. The suit was ultimately settled out of court, resulting in an $18.5 million payout to Hernandez and her family, according to U.S. District Court documents.