LAPD officer avoids jail time for 2014 beating of man in South LA

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A Los Angeles police officer involved in a federal civil rights case, filed by a man who was beaten by LAPD officers in 2014, has avoided jail time due to fulfilling a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Richard Garcia served two years of probation and completed 300 hours of community service, which is what was required in a plea deal that the 36-year-old got in 2015.

As a result, Garcia's felony charges were bumped down to misdemeanor during a hearing on Tuesday.

Prosecutors say on Oct. 16, 2014, Clinton Alford, 22, matched the description of a robbery suspect and fled when officers approached him. He surrendered after a foot chase.

Alford said he was riding his bicycle when someone shouted for him to stop, but he kept pedaling because the man did not identify himself as a police officer. When someone grabbed the back of his bike, he said he jumped off and ran.

His attorney, Caree Harper, says Alford was face down trying to surrender when he was kicked in the head repeatedly. The beating was caught on surveillance video.