A Navy detective pleaded guilty Thursday to using excessive force against a detained man and lying about his previous career with the El Cajon Police Department.
Jonathan Christopher Laroche, 40, pleaded guilty to depriving the man of his rights in connection with an incident on Nov. 14 at Naval Base San Diego, federal prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Laroche was working as a detective with the Navy’s Criminal Investigations Division when a man, identified in court documents only by the initials G.D., was detained by Naval officers. Prosecutors said Laroche did not know why the man had been detained but followed the military law enforcement officers into a room G.D. was being held in.
Laroche admitted in his plea agreement that he entered the room and immediately took G.D. to the ground and used a carotid restraint for 17 seconds. The detained man then lost consciousness.
After the man regained consciousness he was taken into a main room of the security building and handcuffed to a bench, according to the plea. During the interaction, Laroche grabbed G.D. by the throat and pushed his head into the wall, the plea states.
“Laroche admitted that during both of these incidents, he acted willfully and intentionally, depriving G.D. of his right to be free from unreasonable seizure, which includes the right to be free from the unreasonable use of force, under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” prosecutors said…
