A Los Angeles Police Department detective who was accused of threatening an ex-boyfriend and filing a false police report claiming he’d sexually assaulted her was acquitted Monday of a charge of intimidating a witness, but jurors deadlocked on a false imprisonment count stemming from his arrest.
Prosecutors said Christine Wycoff, 46, met the man through a Craiglist online personal ad in June 2014 and the pair had a sexual relationship that lasted several months.
When he disclosed to Wycoff that he lived and worked with an ex-girlfriend, though that romance was over, Wycoff “berated him and accused him of lying and sleeping with other people,” according to a civil suit brought by the man.
Later in the on-again, off-again relationship, Wycoff “threatened to accuse (him) of domestic violence and rape” and “teach him a lesson” if he didn’t return a bracelet she’d given him, he claims in his lawsuit, in which he is identified only as John Doe.
The man ultimately told Wycoff’s supervisor about the alleged threats, prompting an internal investigation.
Torrance police arrested the man after Wycoff accused him of robbery and sexual assault, though prosecutors declined to file charges.
After deliberating for roughly a day and a half, jurors in the criminal case cleared Wycoff of a charge of intimidating a witness but declared themselves deadlocked on the charge of false imprisonment, voting 8-4 in favor of acquittal, prompting a mistrial on that count.
The prosecutor handling the case said she would retry Wycoff on that charge, according to a court clerk. A hearing is set for July 12.
The civil suit filed last July, which seeks unspecified damages, also names Wycoff’s then-husband, an LAPD sergeant, as well as the cities of Los Angeles and Torrance.
–City News Service