A police officer in California has been placed on paid leave after allegedly tampering with the body of a man who was fatally shot by police last fall.
According to the New York Daily News, the Bakersfield Police Department has placed Officer Aaron Stringer on paid leave. Last November, Ramiro James Villegas was shot and killed by police after leading them on a high-speed chase, then crashing into a light pole. Police shot him after claiming that he reached for his waistband after making an aggressive move towards them. Police did not recover a weapon.
The Daily News reports that Stringer, 35, said "tickle, tickle" while playing with the bottom of Villegas' feet at the Kern Medical Center. What's more, Stringer told Lindy DeGeare that he "loved" playing with corpses. Attorney attorney Mark Geragos told the Daily News that DeGeare reported the incident after discussing it with her mother, a retired cop.
Prosecutors have decided not to file charges, and the Bakersfield Police Department's Critical Incident Review Board decided that Villegas' shooting was justified.
[via New York Daily News]
