Attorney Says Accused Beaumont PD Officer is 'Anxious for His Day in Court'

An attorney representing Beaumont police Officer Enoch Clark, who is accused of four felonies stemming from use-of-force during a DUI stop in February, said Thursday afternoon Clark is innocent of all charges and he is "anxious for his day in court."

The involved a less-than-lethal device issued by Beaumont police called a JPX, according to the District Attorney's Office.

"This device uses a 'wafer' of gun powder to propel a stream of pepper spray . . .  at a speed of more than 400 mph," a statement issued by the D.A. Thursday said.

"The minimum distance the device is to be utilized is about five feet with the optimum distance to be used being between six and 16 feet," the District Attorney's statement said. "It was determined that Clark fired the JPX at the woman's face from a distance of about 10 inches. Both of the victim's eyes were severely injured and it is doubtful she will see again, according to medical reports."

Clark is represented by Lackie, Dammeier & McGill, a firm that solely represents police officers, and his attorney of record is Kasey A. Castillo.

"We are aware that the alleged victim in this case held a press conference earlier," Castillo said in a statement distributed Thursday afternoon. "She was in court today with her civil attorney.

"We cannot comment too much on the facts yet, as the District Attorney's Office has not provided discovery to us at this point. It is anticipated that we will  receive it sometime next week," Castillo said.

Because the charges against Clark resulted from a grand jury determination, Clark and his attorney were prohibited from participating in the process until Thursday, Castillo said.

"A general synopsis is that Officer Clark, while in the course and scope of his duties, was attempting to arrest Ms. Hernandez for DUI. He had originally been dispatched to a disturbance call where the reporting party had called to report the behavior of Ms. Hernandez," Castillo said.

"There was a large crowd of Ms. Hernandez's family that was around the location and the officers on scene were concerned about the crowd and interference," Castillo said. "Ms. Hernandez began resisting arrest and after multiple commands and warnings, Officer Clark deployed his department-issued pepper spray device in order to gain compliance and in defense of his person. Unfortunately, that deployment resulted in unintended injuries to Ms. Hernandez.

"Officer Clark is, of course, anxious for his day in court," Castillo said. "While remorseful for the injuries to Ms. Hernandez, he is innocent of all charges."

On Thursday, on four counts: assault under the color or authority, assault with a less lethal weapon, use of force causing serious bodily injury, and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury. There is also an enhancement that he personally inflicted great bodily injury.

All four counts are felonies, Hall said. Clark was expected to be booked and his bail was $50,000, Hall said.

The grand jury indictment became public after Clark was arraigned in Dept. 41 at the Hall of Justice in Riverside. Grand jury proceedings, by law, are secret until a defendant has been arraigned on the indictment. Clark has a trial readiness conference on May 29.

The Beaumont Police Department issued a statement before noon Thursday addressing Clark's indictment.

The department has hired an outside investigative firm to conduct an administrative review of Clark's actions. The police department expects that investigation to be concluded shortly.

"Officer Clark has been placed on Administrative Leave during the investigation, which again is standard protocol in these types of events," the Beaumont PD statement said.