By SHEL SEGAL
A former police sergeant with the Irwindale Police Department was convicted on Friday to sexually assaulting a Chino woman he had pulled over more than two years ago while he was on duty, according to a published report.
Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Greg Risling said David Paul Fraijo, 36, pleaded “no contest” to two felony counts stemming from the Oct. 20, 2012 attack in the area of Arrow Highway and Azusa Canyon Road.
Risling said Fraijo pleaded no contest in Los Angeles Superior Court to charges of oral copulation under color of authority and sexual battery by restraint under a negotiated plea arrangement announced at what was scheduled to be a preliminary hearing setting.
“Fraijo stopped a female driver on Oct. 20, 2012, and asked to see her driver’s license,” Risling said in a written statement. “Fraijo then sexually assaulted her in a parking lot.”
Risling said three other counts Fraijo was additionally charged with following his March 10 arrest are expected to be dismissed when he returns to court on January 14 for sentencing before Judge Ray Jurado.
The charges to be dismissed are kidnapping to commit another crime, forcible oral copulation and assault under color of authority, Risling said, adding that under the plea agreement, Fraijo faces a maximum sentence of nine years in state prison.
Risling added Fraijo could have received a life sentence if convicted on the five counts he was initially charged with.
In addition, the woman assaulted by the sergeant originally filed a $20 million lawsuit against the city of Irwindale. However, the suit was withdrawn in January when the city paid around $400,000 to the woman, according to the report.
And Irwindale Chief Anthony Miranda said Fraijo was fired from the department in February.
(Shel Segal can be reached at ssegal@beaconmedianews.com. He can be followed via Twitter @segallanded.)
