A sergeant with the San Diego Police Department resigned Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to domestic violence.
SDPD Sgt. Oscar Armenta was arrested just after 8 p.m. Sunday, July 3, following an incident that occurred near Island and Seventh avenues, police department officials said.
Witnesses said Armenta was arguing with his girlfriend. SDPD would not provide details but said Armenta was off-duty at the time.
Armenta was initially arraigned on a felony domestic violence abuse charge, a misdemeanor domestic violence battery charge and two simple battery charges, stemming from injuries Good Samaritans sustained when they tried to intervene. A conviction on all charges would have meant up to four years and six months in prison.
On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge resulting in injury. The rest of the complaint was dismissed.
In return, he would be held on three years of probation that includes 120 hours of community service. As part of his sentence, he'll pay $1,679 in restitution and $874 fine. He also much complete a 52-week domestic violence recovery program class.
Should he violate probation, the maximum amount of time behind bars would be one year, according to the prosecutor.
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The victim is still involved in a relationship with Armenta and asked that the no-contact order be removed. The judge ruled that Armenta could not harass or injure the victim.
Attorney Rick Pinckard said his client realized the longer the court case dragged on it would not be good for him or for the police department.
"None of us was at the incident itself. Whatever happened between him and the other person, they are the only two that know that," Pinckard said.
The attorney said Armenta’s job was full of stress.
“You sometimes never know how that stress and pressure is going to manifest,” Pinckard said.
Armenta had been employed with the SDPD for 13 years but would be resigning, according to his attorney.
Chief of Police Shelley Zimmerman confirmed Armenta tendered his resignation Tuesday.
"As I stated back in July when this investigation first began, we hold ourselves to the highest standards and take the conduct of our employees very seriously," Zimmerman said in a written statement.
