A Los Angeles county sheriff’s lieutenant was charged Wednesday with domestic battery and false imprisonment for an incident involving his wife in Beverly Hills a year ago.
Prosecutors charged Lt. Howard Fuchs with the two misdemeanor counts after declining to file charges in January because the alleged victim would not cooperate, according to a criminal complaint and an internal district attorney memo reviewed by The Times.
A video reviewed by officers shows Fuchs “aggressively grab” his wife over the span of 10 minutes, the report said. Limon said in a legal filing that when it was suggested that Fuchs should return to work, she argued the department should wait until criminal and administrative investigations into the lieutenant were complete, according to the legal filing.involved in internal department issues
When asked in an interview about the alleged exchange in May, the sheriff’s wife, Vivian Villanueva, did not directly address whether she discussed the incident with the lieutenant’s wife.