VIDEO: California Deputies Charged with Beating Suspected Car Thief

Two Alameda County (CA) sheriff’s deputies have been charged with multiple felonies after video showed them repeatedly hitting a suspected car thief during an arrest in San Francisco last year, officials said Tuesday.

The alleyway altercation of the suspect, Stanislav Petrov, was caught on surveillance video  and released on YouTube in November by the San Francisco public defender’s office, which said it received the footage from someone who operates a security camera in the area.  

The grainy footage shows two Alameda County sheriff’s deputies chasing a man on foot. As the man slows, one officer tackles him and punches him twice. The second officer arrives and starts hitting Petrov with his baton. Soon both officers can be seen hitting Petrov with their batons.

The deputies, Luis Santamaria and Paul Wieber, are 14- and three-year veterans of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, respectively, officials said. They are charged with assault under the color of authority, battery with serious bodily injury and assault with a deadly weapon. They’re expected to surrender by Wednesday and be held in lieu of $140,000 bail.

The deputies were placed on leave after the Nov. 12 arrest. A separate, internal investigation into the deputies’ conduct is ongoing, said department spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly.

Petrov’s hands were broken during the arrest and he suffered cuts to his head and a concussion, officials say.