A sixth San Diego police officer is being investigated for recent alleged conduct related to an off-duty incident, and a neighbor has come to his defense.
The investigation stems from a suspected neighborhood dispute involving an officer, who is a 24-year veteran of the department, Lt. Andra Brown said.
The department has conducted a personnel investigation, which has been submitted to the San Diego District Attorney's Office for review.
The officer is currently on paid administrative assignment, Brown said.
According to a neighbor who is friends with the officer, the incident involved two teens smoking pot.
Yun Kurland said the officer came out of his home to confront the teens who were sitting in a car outside the officer's home.
"He tried to do something called a 'citizens arrest,'" Kurland told NBCSanDiego.
Kurland's husband said the officer told him he didn't identify himself as a police officer to the teens because he didn't know who they were and didn't want them to know where he lived.
"He wasn't sure if they were criminals getting high," Tom Kurland said.
Yun Kurland said when the officer tried to pull a 17-year-old boy out of the car, they got into a violent struggle, and the officer lost his watch in the boy's car.
The boy, who is a friend of Kurland's son, jumped into the driver's seat of the car and drove away.
Local
"He was bleeding from his nose, like he had a cut," Kurland said. "He had blood on his shirt."
Kurland said she also spoke to the boy after the incident.
She said the boy didn't report the incident to police because he didn't want to get in trouble for smoking pot.
But since he had a fractured cheek and is under age, doctors at urgent care reported the incident as required by law.
Kurland said she hopes the officer doesn't get charged with any crimes.
"He's a really, really nice person and always so caring," Kurland said. "He really watches out for this neighborhood."
Several San Diego police officers have been accused of various crimes over the past few months.
Veteran San Diego police sergeant Sgt. Ken Davis is accused of stalking a female officer and repeatedly harassing her with unwanted phone calls and other contact.
Davis was formally charged in February with one felony and three misdemeanor charges: felony stalking and repeated harassing by phone or electronic contact.
Davis pleaded not guilty, and the judge has allowed him to remain free on his own recognizance.
He is on paid administrative duty.
Officer Anthony Arevalos, 40, an 18-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department, faces multiple charges for accused sexual battery, false imprisonment and assault under the color of authority stemming from traffic stops between 2009 and 2011.
A San Diego police officer, whose name has not been released, is under investigation for allegedly causing a traffic accident in Serra Mesa while intoxicated and fleeing the scene on Feb. 22.
CHP officers said the reporting driver told emergency dispatchers she believed she “was just hit by a DUI driver.”
The case has been referred to the District Attorney’s office for further review.
Another SDPD officer, who was accused of raping a Point Loma Nazarene University student, resigned in March citing personal reasons.
The unidentified officer had already been suspended without pay after the accusation was made.
The entire department is being refreshed on the department's ethics policy, Chief William Lansdowne said in an interview last week.
