A Manhattan Beach Police officer charged last week with a misdemeanor count of leaving the scene of a car accident entered a “not guilty” plea yesterday at his arraignment at the Superior Court in Torrance.
MBPD Officer Richard Hatten, who will turn 36 Monday, was charged last Friday by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office after a year-long criminal investigation into an alleged hit-and-run cover-up involving three off-duty Manhattan Beach Police officers and a fourth investigating officer. No other officers were charged.
“Mr. Hatten’s attorney appeared on his behalf and entered the plea,” district attorney spokesperson Shiara Davila-Morales said yesterday. “He is expected to surrender tomorrow at the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department began a criminal investigation into the actions of Hatten and MBPD officers Eric Eccles and Kristopher Thompson after a Jan. 31 traffic collision on Sepulveda Boulevard involving the officers.
According to sources, the officers were off-duty drinking at Grunion’s Sports Bar on Sepulveda Boulevard before they got into Hatten’s Corvette, which became involved in a crash with two other cars. MBPD Chief Rod Uyeda said in February that the accident may have involved an intoxicated driver who left the scene. The damaged Corvette was later found unattended parked at a nearby gas station, said sources familiar with the case.
After the incident, the three officers were placed on leave. MBPD Officer Jeff Goodrich, who responded to the scene, was also placed on administrative leave. Sources said Goodrich did not take a report. He died of cancer in September.
The criminal investigation was completed last month and turned over to the district attorney’s office for review.
Davila-Morales said that no bail was set for Hatten. After he is booked today at the Sheriff’s station, he will remain free and out on his own recognizance until his pre-trial court date is March 3 at the Superior Court in Torrance.
A separate internal affairs (IA) investigation by the Sheriff’s Department is continuing, which Uyeda said he hopes will be completed in 30 to 60 days. All three officers will remain on paid administrative leave as required under law until the IA investigation is complete, according to Uyeda.
“As this incident is still the subject of an internal affairs investigation, I cannot comment further on the incident, on the officers involved or on the decision reached by the District Attorney’s office,” Uyeda said last week. ER
