One year ago Sunday, La Mesa businesses were looted and vandalized and two area banks were burnt to the ground after a protest which started peacefully.
LA MESA
Amaurie Johnson does not want to think about how differently things could have turned out if a friend had not recorded his arrest on video last May 27.
Johnson, who is Black, was waiting for his friends at a La Mesa transit center when Officer Matthew Dages, who is White, approached him and accused him of illegally smoking. Johnson was not smoking, and he complied with Dages, giving him his name and date of birth, though he also questioned and protested against what he viewed as a discriminatory stop.
During the encounter, the friends Johnson had been waiting for pulled up in a car, and a passenger began recording on a cellphone. The video showed Dages grabbing and shoving Johnson as he detained and later arrested the San Diego man on suspicion of assaulting an officer and resisting arrest.
EL CAJON (KUSI) – A former La Mesa police officer at the center of a controversial arrest near the Grossmont trolley station last spring pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a felony charge of filing a false report.
Matthew Dages is charged in connection with the May 27 arrest of 23- year-old Amaurie Johnson, which was captured on video and circulated over social media, sparking particular condemnation in the wake of the in-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Dages is accused of “falsifying the reason for Johnson’s detention as well as his actions” and faces up to three years in state prison if convicted, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.
Matthew Dages faces up to three years in state prison if convicted. Author: CBS News 8 Team Published: 5:32 AM PST March 9, 2021 Updated: 5:31 PM PST March 9, 2021
LA MESA, Calif. The former La Mesa police officer at the center of a controversial arrest that played a role in protests and riots last spring pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on Tuesday.
Video of former officer Matthew Dages wrongfully detaining Amaurie Johnson went viral and sparked outrage in the community. Dages was fired based on allegations that he violated several police department rules and regulations, including falsification of records, according to a termination letter issued last summer by then-police chief Walt Vasquez.
A former La Mesa police officer at the center of a controversial arrest near the Grossmont trolley station last spring pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a felony charge of filing a false report.