Sunset Police Chief Luis Padilla has been arrested by federal officials and indicted by a federal grand jury.
Sunset Police Capt. Aquieta Hebert initially told KATC Tuesday morning that Padilla had been arrested and indicted. Federal prosecutors later confirmed that Tuesday afternoon.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Lafayette said Padilla was indicted on a federal civil rights violation for willfully using unreasonable force against an individual.
The federal indictment alleges that during an investigation on December 1, 2023, Chief Padilla restrained someone in handcuffs without justification while forcefully twisting that person's thumb and wrist to cause pain. Federal prosecutors said that force injured the person, whom they did not name.
Padilla's public defender entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. A federal judge set an unsecured $30,000 bond. He appeared in court wearing a dress shirt, slacks and shackles.
As an additional condition of his release, the court ordered that Padilla cannot possess a firearm.
