LAS VEGAS (AP) - Las Vegas police had recommended more serious charges against one of their officers now facing a misdemeanor battery charge after a body camera recorded a confrontation with a woman during an arrest.
Officer Richard Scavone, 43, is facing the charge in the Jan. 6 incident in which a woman he accused of prostitution was seen on video being thrown to the ground, grabbed by the neck and slammed by her head on the hood of the patrol car three times, according to a police report.
A detective who investigated the incident after the woman filed a complaint charging an excessive use of force found inconsistencies between Scavone's report and what the body-camera video showed. The detective in his report dated March 12 also recommended that Scavone face a felony charge for oppression under color of office and a misdemeanor charge for false reporting by a public officer.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson announced the case against Scavone the week after the detective's recommendations were made.
Wolfson said through his office that he would not respond to questions about why prosecutors did not bring more serious charges. Authorities have also said they would not release the video.
The Scavone case is a rare one in which a body camera led to criminal charges against a police officer. The Las Vegas police investigation report describes the confrontation in detail, including quoting the woman as saying to Scavone: "You're abusing me for no reason."
The woman was initially stopped on the suspicion of prostitution outside of a hotel one block west of the Las Vegas Strip. After a scuffle that left her face bleeding, she was arrested for loitering for the purpose of prostitution, littering and resisting a police officer.
The detective investigating Scavone notes that he made at least four misleading or false statements surrounding his claim that the woman was resisting arrest.