Anthony Arevalos With Intoxicated Female In Gaslight Quarter March 13, 2009
I happen to be videotaping on my vacation scenes from the Gas Light Quarter and uploaded the full video which I have put a link in below. Later someone pointed out that the officer in the video was convicted so I have uploaded only this small section of the video here.
Here is a story from the UT San Diego:
"Despite his tearful apologies and pleas for mercy, a former San Diego police officer who tried to get sexual favors from women he stopped for traffic violations in the Gaslamp Quarter was sentenced Friday to eight years and eight months in prison - one year less than the maximum term allowed.
Anthony Arevalos, 41, was convicted in November of eight felonies, including sexual battery and asking for a bribe, and four misdemeanors. He was acquitted of other charges.
Calling Arevalos a "crooked cop" who belonged in prison, San Diego Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser denied a new trial motion filed by Arevalos' defense lawyers before ordering the sentence. The maximum term allowed by law, the judge said, was nine years and eight months.
With good behavior, he will likely only serve half of his sentence. Arevalos was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life.
Earlier in the hearing, Arevalos cried as he apologized to his victims and to his family, asking for their forgiveness.
"I realize how many people I've hurt and what I've done," he sobbed.
Reading from a letter he had written, Arevalos apologized for disappointing the Police Department, his colleagues and the people he trained. He said he was overwhelmed with guilt because of the choices he had made, but wanted to stay out of prison so he could provide for his family.
"I pray and I beg you to please not send me to prison. I need to be there for my children," he said. "Please have mercy on me."
But the judge said Arevalos deserved a prison sentence, rather than probation as argued by the defense, because he abused the authority afforded to him by the Police Department and the community, and because the victims were particularly vulnerable.
"They had no one to call for help - no one," Fraser said. "The defendant was their protector and he became a predator."
Arevalos, an 18-year police department veteran, was fired in April after one of his accusers, whom he stopped on suspicion of drunken driving, reported that the officer had asked for her underwear in exchange for letting her go.
The woman, who was referred to in court as Jane Doe, said she followed Arevalos - at his direction - to a convenience store bathroom, where he asked to see parts of her body and touched her genital area.
Later, investigators identified six other women who claimed that they also had uncomfortable interactions with Arevalos during which he made inappropriate comments or touched them sexually.
A jury heard testimony from the each of the alleged victims and found him guilty of charges related to five.
Defense attorney Gretchen von Helms, who at one point also broke into tears Friday, argued that the judge should take into account the good deeds that Arevalos had done through most of his career and the praise he received for his police work. She noted that a psychologist who evaluated Arevalos determined he was not likely to commit similar offenses in the future.
ut Deputy District Attorney Sherry Thompson argued that Arevalos was "living two separate lives," and that his crimes would continue to affect his victims.
She read from a letter penned by Jane Doe, who described the trial as "a horrendous ordeal" for herself and the other victims, and said Arevalos' behavior compromised her sense of security.
"I am no longer secure in my belief that a police officer will protect me or others in need," she wrote. "My fear is that there may be other officers like him."
Another victim said her experience with Arevalos during a traffic stop in October 2010 had left her emotionally stunted.
"This was not a mistake, a mistake happens once," she said. "This is a proclivity, a tendency to prey upon women."
www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/Feb/10/sentencing-anthony-arevalos/
Full video:
ua-cam.com/video/bsJLF29YcxM/v-deo.html