Sheriff's narcotics lieutenant charged with domestic battery

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 both counts after he refused to file charges in January because his wife would not cooperate, according to a criminal complaint and an internal district attorney memo reviewed by The Times.

In a statement released Thursday, the prosecutor's office cited video of the incident captured by security cameras and said the decision to file charges was made after “senior officials reviewed previously unseen footage and determined that we should file a complaint based on all the evidence.” “.

Fuchs did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment Thursday.

The charges stem from an evening in September 2021, when Fuchs had a “heated argument” with his wife and grabbed her as she tried to leave, according to a Beverly Hills police report reviewed by The Times. They had gone to dinner earlier and both had been drinking alcohol, according to the report. Fuchs had a gun with him.

A witness called the police because he saw the two men arguing. The witness also heard the wife tell Fuchs to leave her alone. The witness said he saw Fuchs aggressively grabbing his wife “everywhere,” according to the report. When asked for details, the witness told police to look at security camera videos in the area.

A video reviewed by police shows Fuchs “aggressively grabbing” his wife over the course of 10 minutes, according to the report.

The wife then told police she did not believe Fuchs was trying to harm her and that he had done nothing wrong. She has no visible injuries, according to the report.

Fuchs was a key member of the Sheriff's Department's narcotics team. After Fuchs was arrested and relieved of duty, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva pressured his command staff to bring him back to work, according to a lawsuit filed by Robin Limon, a former deputy sheriff who is suing the department for retaliation.

Limon said in a court filing that when it was suggested that Fuchs return to work, she argued that the department should wait until the criminal and administrative investigations into the lieutenant were completed, according to the court filing.

Villanueva dismissed his concerns, saying his wife, who is involved in internal issues at the department, had “spoken to the employee's wife and it was now 'no big deal,'” the filing states. A few months later, the sheriff ordered Limon to bring Fuchs back, according to the filing.

Asked in an interview about the alleged exchange in May, the sheriff's wife, Vivian Villanueva, did not directly say whether she had discussed the incident with the lieutenant's wife.

She said: “I know the woman. …I had a private discussion with my husband that I don't want to discuss. As far as I know, the entire legal process has taken place. I played no role in any criminal or administrative investigation.

The lieutenant's wife told the Times that she did not discuss the incident with Vivian Villanueva. She said she had a verbal argument with her husband, who never hit her or hurt her in any way, and that he “should never have been arrested.”

The two couples appear to maintain a friendship outside of work. A few months before the lieutenant's arrest, his wife gave the Villanuevas a dog tag for their new dog, Simon, that read “Deputy Simon,” according to a photo of the gift on Villanueva's Instagram.

This story was originally published in the Los Angeles Times.