LAPD Officer Sentenced for Assault While on Duty

An LAPD officer was sentenced last week to 16 months in county jail for assault under color of authority during a July 2012 arrest, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced. Officer Mary O’Callaghan, 50, was sentenced to the maximum of three years in local custody after a jury in June found her guilty of pushing, shoving and kicking Alesia Thomas during Thomas’ arrest. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta sentenced O’Callaghan to the maximum term, but suspended 20 months of the 36-month sentence. He also denied a defense motion to place the 18-year police veteran on probation in case BA417095. Deputy District Attorney Shannon Presby, assistant head deputy of the Justice System Integrity Division who prosecuted the case, told the court that the victim needed help that day, “but what she got was violence.” On July 22, 2012, LAPD officers were dispatched to Alesia Thomas’ residence in the 9100 block of South Broadway Avenue to investigate possible child abandonment. After interviewing Thomas, LAPD officers placed her under arrest. O’Callaghan arrived on the scene to assist the arresting officers with placing Thomas, who was handcuffed and had on leg restraints, in a patrol car. A police cruiser’s video camera captured O’Callaghan kicking Thomas in the stomach and groin area and pushing her in the throat. While in the patrol car, Thomas lost consciousness and paramedics were called. She was transported to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. The case was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department.