A former Long Beach police detective was acquitted Friday of charges that he dragged his wife from a home and assaulted a man prosecutors described as the woman’s boyfriend.
The downtown Los Angeles jury deliberated for about two days before acquitting Toby Benskin, 36, of three counts of assault with a firearm, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count each of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, making criminal threats, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment by violence.
When Benskin was originally arrested and charged in October 2016, prosecutors said he broke into the residence of his estranged wife’s boyfriend, assaulted and threatened to kill the man and threatened the man’s roommate on Oct. 27, 2015. Prosecutors said Benskin dragged his wife out of the residence.
Benskin’s attorney, Simon Aval, said Friday authorities circulated “false and misleading” information about his arrest “to portray a false narrative.”
“Mr. Benskin was not an `estranged husband’ as described,” Aval said. “Mr. and Mrs. Benskin were married at the time of the incident and lived together. The alleged victim was not Mrs. Benskin’s `new boyfriend’ as described, but a man with whom she had been having a secret affair.”
Aval said that on the night of the alleged attack, Benskin’s wife said she was going to dinner with a friend, but she actually went out with the man with whom she was having an affair. She wound up getting drunk and passing out at the man’s home, he said. Benskin — concerned for his wife’s safety when she did not return home — began calling friends in hopes of finding her, and ultimately tracked her down through an app on her iPhone, according to the attorney.
“He responded to the location and found her unconscious inside the residence,” Aval said. “He acted to save her from any perceived danger.”
“At the time of incident, Mr. Benskin had been a police officer for 14 years and had received numerous awards in his career for his outstanding achievements as a police officer. He had been twice awarded a Meritorious Award for Bravery for his acts in saving others,” Aval said.
In a statement released the day of Benskin’s arrest, the Long Beach Police Department said it had begun an internal administrative investigation after learning of the alleged attack in Long Beach. Benskin, a 14-year employee who had been assigned to the police department’s Investigations Bureau, was terminated following the investigation, police said.
“When we take our oath of office, we assume a tremendous responsibility which includes upholding the values and maintaining the integrity of our police department and profession,” Long Beach police Chief Robert Luna said in a statement. “When an officer betrays the public trust we have worked so hard to cultivate, they must be held accountable.”