Indictment sought of Las Cruces PD officers shown beating handcuffed man on video

The Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office and the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General will seek the indictment of two former Las Cruces Police officers in connection with the alleged beating of a detainee captured on video.

The former officers shown in the Dec. 23, 2014 video are Richard Garcia and Danny Salcido. They were placed on administrative duty on March 4 and fired earlier this month after the completion of an investigation into the incident.

Third Judicial District Attorney Mark D’Antonio and Attorney General Hector Balderas announced their offices will jointly prosecute Garcia and Salcido.

The Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Attorney General will go before the grand jury in June with evidence from New Mexico State Police’s investigation.

Garcia had been an officer with Las Cruces Police since August 2004. Salcido had been with the Las Cruces Police Department since September 2011.

“The allegations against both officers were reviewed and it was found that these officers violated internal policies and procedures which warranted their discharge from employment with the Las Cruces Police Department,” LCPD Chief Jaime Montoya said about the officers’ dismissal earlier this month.

The incident involved the two officers and Ross Flynn, who was being booked on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a police officer and resisting or obstructing a police officer. The charges were related to an incident in the 1500 block of Foster Road.

Las Cruces Police conducted an internal investigation, which was completed April 24. The findings were forwarded to Montoya who reviewed them, and placed the officers on administrative leave with pay in May before they were fired in mid-May.

See articles under related content for ABC-7’s coverage of the incident and fallout.