Palo Alto: Former cop pleads guilty in excessive force case that prompted department LGBTQ training

PALO ALTO — Less than a week from the start of trial, a former Palo Alto police officer pleaded guilty to excessive force charges in the 2018 arrest of a gay man whose subsequent lawsuit, and the release of incriminating video, prompted a half-million dollar settlement and mandatory LGBTQ sensitivity training for the police agency.

Wayne Benitez, 66, entered the plea Tuesday afternoon at the Palo Alto courthouse, in accordance with a court offer from Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Brian Buckelew. The admitted charges are misdemeanor counts of assault under color of authority and lying on a police report.

Benitez, who retired from the police department amid the fallout from the violent arrest, was ordered to serve 750 hours of community service and complete court-ordered anger management and LGBTQ sensitivity training.

“When someone with a badge breaks the law, it cracks the confidence that people have in law enforcement,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “That is not just unfortunate. It is unacceptable. No one is above the law.”

Benitez’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Because the convictions recorded Tuesday are misdemeanors, he does not risk losing his police pension.

The former sergeant was a public face of the Palo Alto Police Department, both as a union leader and a public information officer during his two decades with the agency.

He was also known internally as “The Fuse,” a characterization that took on a new dimension after he slammed a handcuffed Gustavo Alvarez face-first into a car windshield in a garage at the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park on Feb. 17, 2018.

A body-worn microphone later captured Benitez saying, “See how quickly they behave once we put our foot down,” and telling another officer, “And that’s what we don’t do enough of.”

While the officers did not record video of the encounter, a year later a security video was eventually made public that laid out in unmistakable detail how Alvarez was not strongly resisting, and contradicted a written report by Benitez stating that the only force he used was pulling Alvarez out of the residence.

The video also showed Benitez berating Alvarez with, “You think you’re a tough guy?” and when Alvarez complained that he was bleeding, Benitez replied, “You’re going to be bleeding a whole lot more.”

The allegations for which Alvarez was arrested — driving under the influence, driving with a suspended or revoked license, and resisting arrest — were later dropped by prosecutors. Alvarez sued the city of Palo Alto and the police department for excessive force, and also accused the officers of mocking his sexual orientation during the arrest.

Ultimately, the city paid Alvarez $572,500 and instituted mandatory sensitivity training for the entire Palo Alto Police Department to settle the lawsuit.

Trial proceedings for the excessive force charges were scheduled to begin Monday. The case had been pushed out several times since they were first filed in October 2020 because of pandemic-driven court shutdowns and restrictions.

“I’m glad the case has finally been resolved,” said prosecutor Jason Malinsky, a deputy district attorney in his office’s Public and Law Enforcement Integrity Unit. “Wayne Benitez tarnished the badge and tarnished (the department’s) reputation.”

Alvarez’s attorney, Cody Salfen, said he and his client had a “bittersweet” reaction to Benitez’s plea.

“At the end of the day, I’m glad some responsibility was assumed,” Salfen said. “But there’s no amount of criminal punishment that can erase what happened to Mr. Alvarez.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.