LAPD Officer Accused of Sexual Battery

LAKE VIEW TERRACE — A Los Angeles Police Department patrol sergeant was arrested and accused of four counts of felony sexual battery Friday in connection with a series of incidents in which he allegedly fondled young women during curfew stops.

David Louis Navarro, 41, was taken into custody at the Foothill Division where he had worked from February to November last year, said Cmdr. Tim McBride, a department spokesman. The incidents allegedly took place in Sylmar and Chatsworth from June to November, McBride said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Goul said Saturday the 15-year police veteran will be arraigned in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday. Navarro could not be reached for comment.

A Los Angeles ordinance forbids children under age 18 to loiter in a public place after 10 p.m., police said. LAPD policy calls for female officers to be called for a frisk of female suspects, except during life-threatening emergencies, McBride said.

But prosecutors say that’s not what happened during several encounters Navarro had with young women during stops for alleged curfew violations.

“He exceeded what was necessary and proper in the manner in which he searched these girls,” Goul said. “He would detain his victims but issued no reports or citations.”

According to Goul, Navarro would pull a car over and order any men or boys out for a cursory search. When he got to girls or women in the car, however, Navarro would pat them down on the breasts and the groin area, Goul said.

In one case, the police sergeant allegedly ordered a woman to “open her shirt and hand him her bra” before “patting her down directly on her bare breasts, “ Goul said.

“Essentially, it was an abuse of his police power,” he said.