The Antelope Valley Times

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Former CHP officer charged with assaulting woman during traffic stop

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[File]
LOS ANGELES – A now-retired California Highway Patrol officer has been charged with assault for allegedly punching a woman in the face during a traffic stop last year, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.

Todd Cookston, 54, is set to be arraigned in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom April 25 on one felony count of assault under the color of authority.

Cookston detained a 21-year-old woman on Interstate 5 near Santa Clarita last March 2 and punched her in the face after the woman stepped outside her vehicle and an altercation ensued, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

In a statement announcing the charges, District Attorney George Gascón said, “The alleged behavior exhibited by this officer was reprehensible. No woman should be detained in the middle of the night and punched in the face because an officer lost his temper. Excessive force by law enforcement officers will not be tolerated in Los Angeles County.”

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19 comments for "Former CHP officer charged with assaulting woman during traffic stop"

  1. $429k buys alot of representation

    transparentcalifornia.com

  2. Want to bet she’s ABW and the mother of the minors no longer allowed to eat at chick fil a

  4. Gascon grandstanding yet again. He made these campaign promises that he would go after LEOs. He can file charges but that doesn’t mean it will go to court or result in a conviction. It very likely will quietly get dismissed.

    Maybe she deserved to get punched in the face! It says an altercation ensued. There are many women who are not petite, fragile creatures. There are women who have the attitude that they don’t have to listen to LEOs. They will attack—hitting, spitting, kicking, pulling hair, kneeing. Some of these big mamas can do damage. If they want to be tough and act like that, then they should take their lumps and not cry about later.

    No LEO should have to stand there and just take it. They have a right to defend themselves!

  5. UMMMM “Excessive force by law enforcement officers will not be tolerated in Los Angeles County” What?! What if it is necessary? California is a joke…

    • LOL
      Three step process for you:
      1) Get dictionary
      2) Look up ‘necessary’ and ‘excessive’
      3) Check mirror to see the real joke

      • It should be because here in California everyone thinks they don’t need to obey the laws so if you act stupid then you get what you deserve. Why should the deputies have to risk their lives for some piece of crap person

        • Because it’s their job???
          Should they only protect what you would refer to as a higher class person?

          • Well than if they want to get what’s coming to them then they can go ahead and act stupid.

        • Question: Does “everyone” there include you? If not, then it seems that you are being kinda mindlessly hyperbolic.

    • Sooooo…what about everyone else Ace? What should I do to protest not being allowed to just punch women in the face?

      • Been there, done that. If I was going to go back to crime it would be more of an “all in.”

      • Gee, Mike. Your line of attack is growing calcified and stale. Tim never made any secret of his past. What does any of that sh!t have to do with every current article on this site? Personal drive-by attacks on the past are petty and have no relevance to the discussions.

        Do you have any comments on the damage the Biden administration is doing to our country?