Torrance Police officer David Chandler Jr. was arrested this past week for shooting a black man in 2018, but you probably have not seen his face before today. That is because Cop Blaster found a picture of Chandler from the 2018 TPD Annual Report which cannot be found in any mainstream news coverage of this case. People often ask what value we offer in high profile cases such as this because they think we just swallow what the mainstream press says and regurgitate it for you, but what they don't realize is that we always tinkly a little something special of our own on top.
Officer Chandler is now charged with one felony count of assault by an officer. According to a press release from the LA County DA's Office, officers responded to a 911 call from an elderly woman saying her son had smashed her sliding glass door. When officers arrived the suspect picked up a knife and walked around, but never threatened or attempted to move towards officers. As the man walked away, Officer Chandler fired several shots at least one of which struck the man. Chandler is being charged because the man was walking away when he was shot. These charges are a step in the right direction because just holding a knife does not justify shooting someone. Officers are required to use de-escalation techniques and less than lethal force such as tasers in such situations. By jumping the gun Officer Chandler needlessly endangered someone's life. Luckily the man survived.
Chandler's arrest comes less than two weeks after TPD officers Christopher Tomsic and Cody Weldin were arrested for spray painting a swastika inside a car they impounded after arrested the owner (https://copblaster.com/blast/39693/christopher-tomsic-and-cody-weldin-arrested-for-swastika-graffiti). Over a dozen other TPD officers are still under investigation in that case because they were found to have exchanged racist, sexist, and homophobic text messages. According to KTLA, Officer Chandler is part of that dirty dozen (https://ktla.com/news/torrance-officer-charged-with-excessive-force-for-2018-officer-involved-shooting/).
According to public records, David Frederick Chandler Jr. is a 33 year old (DOB 2/18/1988) resident of Huntington Beach, California.