An off-duty Los Angeles Police Division lieutenant who has posted anti-drunk-driving messages on-line was charged with felony DUI on Wednesday in reference to a crash on the 605 Freeway in Santa Fe Springs that injured at the least one individual over the weekend.
Matthew Ensley was arrested on the scene late Sunday by the California Freeway Patrol on suspicion of felony driving beneath the affect. His blood alcohol stage was .20, greater than twice the authorized restrict, in keeping with a report by the Los Angeles County District Legal professional’s workplace.
It wasn’t instantly clear whether or not Ensley had been relieved of responsibility following his arrest.
An LAPD spokesperson confirmed Ensley had been arrested and that his most up-to-date task was to the transit division, however declined to remark additional.
Ensley remained in custody till Wednesday, when he made his preliminary court docket look at Bellflower Courthouse. Ensley, who wore a black puffer jacket, mentioned little in the course of the transient listening to — apart from to acknowledge that he understood District Court docket Choose Warren Kato when the decide mentioned his subsequent court docket date.
Ensley’s lawyer, Invoice Seki, requested Kato to decrease his $100,000 bail, pointing to the officer’s roughly 20 years of public service and “group ties.”
“Mr. Ensley has by no means been concerned in something like this earlier than,” Seki mentioned.
However Kato declined to set the bail quantity any decrease. Jail information present Ensley was launched on bond Wednesday afternoon.
“The court docket is clearly all the time involved with public security. Clearly I perceive that he’s a revered member of the group,” mentioned Kato. However, he mentioned, he couldn’t make exceptions simply due to Ensley’s standing as an officer.
Seki declined additional remark after the listening to, saying he hadn’t had an opportunity but to completely evaluate the police report.
A CHP report mentioned that Ensley was driving drunk north on the 605 in Santa Fe Springs, simply south of Spring Avenue, when he rear-ended one other automobile. The report listed two accidents — with one individual complaining of head ache and one other struggling a damaged arm — however didn’t specify whether or not the injured have been all occupants of the automobile that Ensley struck, in keeping with CHP Officer Bob Whittenberg.
The incident occurred round 10:25 p.m.
After becoming a member of the division in 2004, Ensley was seen as a quick riser, incomes a repute as a hard-working cop who labored anti-gang assignments in Hollenbeck Division. In 2009, Ensley and one other officer opened hearth on an armed man whereas on patrol within the Ramona Gardens housing growth, injuring the suspect.
Extra just lately, he was talked about in a lawsuit by an LAPD detective who alleged he and others have been sexually assaulted by fellow members of the LAPD’s beginner soccer crew, the Centurions, as a part of a long-standing hazing ritual. Ensley was named as being current throughout a locker room hazing incident, however not accused of collaborating. Ensley and his lawyer haven’t responded to the allegations.
Alcohol abuse is a persistent concern within the LAPD, with many officers investigated annually for drunk driving or different alcohol-related incidents.
Through the years, metropolis officers have been accused of quite a lot of offenses whereas drunk, starting from capturing folks and entering into crashes to yelling racial slurs at bouncers.
The issue, and the division’s supposedly lenient dealing with of such instances, has obtained scrutiny previously by the Police Fee. The civilian oversight physique voted to tighten the division’s alcohol coverage, reducing the suitable blood-alcohol stage for an off-duty, armed officer to 0.04% in some conditions.
The fee revisited the problem of off-duty consuming in response to a 2021 Occasions report suggesting that the division has did not develop clear insurance policies regardless of a number of instances lately during which officers who have been off the clock and armed allegedly brought about hassle, broke legal guidelines and shot folks after consuming.
An account on the social media web site X related to Ensley appeared to have been taken down after his arrest. In December, in keeping with a screenshot of his account, he re-posted a message from one other person concerning the group Moms In opposition to Drunk Driving becoming a member of with police and native leaders to “drive down fatalities from DUI drivers” in the course of the vacation season.
