Merced County Sheriff releases video of former sergeant kicking DUI suspect

The Merced County Sheriff’s Office has released body camera video that shows a former sergeant kicking a man while responding to a crash earlier this year.

The video was released Wednesday following an internal affairs investigation into the use of force by former Merced County Sheriff’s Sgt. Dustin Witt. According to authorities, deputies responded to a call in the 2400 block of Cardella Road at about 8:50 p.m. March 11 for a vehicle that crashed through a fence.

“Through our supervisory review process, we were made aware that the use of force was applied by a sheriff sergeant,” Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said in the video. “Based upon that, we immediately started an internal affairs investigation and requested the Merced County District Attorney’s Office to review this incident for a possible criminal investigation.”

Warnke said he felt it was important to share this incident with the community as soon as he was able to not only to be transparent, but also to show the actions taken by a staff member. According to Warnke, the incident was isolated and does not reflect the actions of the rest of the agency.

Warnke said that because of pending criminal proceedings and the recommendation of the Merced County District Attorney’s Office, the video released by the Merced County Sheriff’s Office does not include narration.

A portion of the video shows deputies involved in a physical altercation with a man authorities have identified as Louis Jackson. The video shows a deputy deploying a taser as Jackson falls to the ground and the other deputy, identified as former Sgt. Dustin Witt, kicking Jackson several times.

According to Warnke, an internal affairs investigation was conducted by a third party. Following the investigation, Witt resigned from his position with the sheriff’s office.

“Sergeant Witt’s actions are unacceptable and do not reflect the training and professional standards taught by the Merced County Sheriff’s Office,” Warnke said in the video. “While I am extremely disappointed with how this incident was handled by Sergeant Witt, I am encouraged that it was because of our own internal use of force review process that this incident was discovered.”

The Merced County District Attorney Office has filed charges against Witt of assault by a public officer, assault likely to cause bodily injury and an enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury.

Warnke said the type of behavior seen in the video released by the sheriff’s office is not acceptable.

“It breaks my heart to have to share this incident with you, but rest assured this is not something I take lightly,” Warnke said in the video.

Warnke said the sheriff’s office will continue to review use of force policies and training to improve how deputies protect Merced County.

This story was originally published August 17, 2023 at 10:33 AM.