Police investigate confrontation involving DA, resident

Merced police on Wednesday opened an investigation into an incident involving District Attorney Larry Morse II and a county resident who claims the veteran prosecutor knocked him to the ground.

Morse said Matthew Gonzales, who operates a public Facebook page, simply fell down and denied hitting or shoving him. Merced police say the alleged confrontation occurred around 11:30 a.m. in front of the Merced Superior Courthouse, 2260 N St.

Gonzales, 48, claimed he was “assaulted” by Morse while following the prosecutor with his camera and asking him a series of sexually charged questions. But the district attorney said Gonzales’ “feet apparently got tangled and I walked into his camera equipment which was pointed toward me.”

Merced police Capt. Tom Trindad confirmed at least three people witnessed the incident, but declined to elaborate on their statements. “Right now, it’s still under investigation, but we would like to hear from any other witnesses,” Trindad said.

Trindad said the police reports will be sent to the state Attorney General’s Office for review. “It will be their decision whether they want to investigate it further or whether or not they plan to take any action,” he said.

Gonzales said he reported the confrontation because he thought it should be documented, but told police he didn’t want to press charges because he didn’t think it warranted prosecution.

According to both Gonzales and Morse, the incident was sparked when Gonzales began following Morse with a camera at the end of a public event honoring a fallen peace officer in front of the Merced Police Department.

Gonzales asked Morse questions of a sexual nature, the last of which involved Morse’s wife.

In a statement issued to the Sun-Star, Morse said he was walking away from Gonzales, but turned after Gonzales “made an insulting slur involving my wife ... ”

“I turned and walked toward him, telling him not to speak about my wife, and he began to back away from me,” Morse said. “As he shrank backwards, his feet apparently got tangled, and I walked into his camera equipment, which was pointed towards me. He then made a dramatic show of falling on his back on the grass.”

Gonzales said he suffered “bumps and bruises” from falling to the ground. He said Morse “swung his right arm” and “connected” with Gonzales’ left shoulder. “I really don’t know if it was with a closed fist or just a really hard push,” Gonzales said.

Morse said he then went into the courthouse. “At no time did I hit or raise a hand toward Gonzales,” Morse said.

Gonzales has a documented history of accusing Morse and his family of wrongdoing, citing only unnamed “sources.” This is the first allegation that has resulted in a confirmed police report.

Morse noted two recent incidents in which Gonzales made statements about Morse and his family that Gonzales later retracted, acknowledging they were wrong.

Gonzales recently encouraged people who follow his Facebook page to photograph Morse’s teenage son in public and to send the photographs to Gonzales. Gonzales later retracted the statement, saying it was wrong. More recently, Gonzales accused Morse of witness tampering and later retracted that statement as well.

Gonzales said he only hopes Morse will pay for a camera monitor, which he claims was damaged during the confrontation.

Morse said he does not consider Gonzales a journalist, explaining that “strapping on a camera, creating a Facebook page and making irresponsible, unsubstantiated allegations about public officials and their families without any attribution beyond nameless “sources” isn’t journalism.”

“And to say that I struck him or assaulted him in any way is simply another lie,” Morse concluded.

Merced police ask anyone with information about the incident to contact investigators at (209) 385-6905.

This story was originally published April 15, 2015 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Police investigate confrontation involving DA, resident."