UPDATE: Sunset Police Chief Luis Padilla has agreed to resign or retire from his position as part of a plea agreement, court records show.
Padilla pleaded guilty to a Bill of Information charging him with Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law. As part of his plea, he agreed to "resign or retire from his position as Chief of Police of the Town of Sunset within one (1) week of the Court's acceptance of the plea agreement" and that he "will not seek any employment with law enforcement during any term of probation and/or supervision."
His sentencing is set for June; a pre-sentence report was ordered by the court. He faces up to one year in jail and up to $100,000 in fines, as well as up to one year of supervised release. The plea agreement states that the government and the defense are agreed that he should be sentenced to probation - but it also acknowledges that the sentence is up to the court.
Padilla was indicted on a federal civil rights violation charge, but he pleaded guilty to a different charge in a Bill of Information filed on Monday.
The Bill of Information accuses him of Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law in connection with a December 2023 incident. The Bill alleges that Padilla deprived a person "of the right, secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States, to be free from unreasonable seizures, which includes the right to be free from unreasonable force during an arrest."
We asked Padilla if he had any comment, but he declined.
In the factual basis for the plea, Padilla admitted that he approached a man during an investigation in which the suspect was female. He handcuffed the man, poked him in the chest and neck, yelling at him, the document states. Padilla twisted the man's thumb and wrist, saying he would show the man "how bad I am," the documents state.
Although Padilla declined comment today, back in November, this statement was sent to KATC by "the Padilla Defense Team."
Sadly, across our country, there has been a spate of lawsuits against hard working law enforcement officials who come into contact with disrespectful and uncooperative young men. Resisting arrest and tussling with the police can lead to consequences.
In this case involving the long time, popular Police Chief of Sunset, we ask everyone to withhold judgment until all of the facts (are) made public. Let us review the body camera videos, the witnesses' statements and the statements of the participants.
Only then, will we know whether this is the case of a brutal officer or of an uncooperative young man resisting arrest. Let's just wait for all the facts.
Federal prosecutors filed a criminal indictment against Padilla, not a lawsuit. The criminal case was investigated by the FBI and he was indicted by a federal grand jury.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Lafayette said Padilla was indicted on a federal civil rights violation for a charge that's different than the one in the Bill on today's docket: 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.
